Justus Ellis McQueen Jr. (August 19, 1927 – July 9, 2022), known professionally as L. Q. Jones, was an American actor and director. He appeared in Sam Peckinpah's films Ride the High Country (1962), Major Dundee (1965), The Wild Bunch (1969), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973). His later film roles include Casino (1995), The Patriot (1998), The Mask of Zorro (1998), and A Prairie Home Companion (2006).
His other roles included Western television series such as Cheyenne (1955), Laramie (1959–63), Wagon Train (1959–64), Rawhide (1963–65), The Virginian (1963–71), and Gunsmoke (1963–72).
Jones was the writer and director of the 1975 science-fiction film A Boy and His Dog, based on Harlan Ellison's 1969 novella of the same name.
Early life Jones was born August 19, 1927, in Beaumont, in southeastern Texas, the son of Jessie Paralee (née Stephens) and Justus Ellis McQueen, Sr., a railroad worker. At an early age, his mother died following a car accident. He completed his school education from Port Neches–Groves High School in 1945. After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1946,Navy Vet L.Q. Jones Had an Amazing Career in Movie Westerns Military.com. Retrieved July 15, 2022. Jones attended Lamar Junior College (now Lamar University) and Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas, and then studied law, business, and journalism at the University of Texas at Austin from 1950 to 1951. He worked as a stand-up comic, briefly played professional baseball and American football, and tried ranching in Nicaragua, then turned to acting after corresponding with Fess Parker, his former college roommate.
Career Jones made his film debut in 1955 in Battle Cry, credited under his birth name Justus McQueen. His character's name in that film was "L. Q. Jones", a name he liked and decided to adopt as his stage name for all of his future acting roles. In 1955, he was cast as Smitty Smith in three episodes of Clint Walker's ABC/Warner Bros. Western series Cheyenne, the first hour-long Western on network television.
Jones appeared in numerous films in the 1960s and '70s. He became a member of Sam Peckinpah's stock company of actors, appearing in his Klondike series (1960–1961), Ride the High Country (1962), Major Dundee (1965), The Wild Bunch (1969), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973).
Jones was frequently cast alongside his close friend Strother Martin, most memorably as the posse member and bounty hunter T. C. in The Wild Bunch. Jones also appeared as recurring characters on such Western series as Cheyenne (1955), Gunsmoke (1955), Laramie, Two Faces West (1960–1961), and as ranch hand Andy Belden in The Virginian (1962). That same year (1962), Jones appeared as Ollie Earnshaw, a rich rancher looking for a bride, on Lawman, in the episode titled "The Bride".
He was cast in the military drama series Men of Annapolis, on the CBS Western Johnny Ringo and on the NBC Western Jefferson Drum. He made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of con artist and murder victim Charles B. Barnaby in "The Case of the Lonely Heiress" (1958) and as Edward Lewis in "The Case of the Badgered Brother" (1963). He appeared in Hawaii Five-O, season one, episode 15, in January 1969. He also appeared in an episode of The A-Team titled "Cowboy George" and two episodes of The Fall Guy as Sheriff Dwight Leclerc. In 1971, Jones appeared as Belden in The Men from Shiloh (the final season rebranding of The Virginian) episode titled "The Town Killer".
Jones' other films include Men in War (1957), The Naked and the Dead (1958), Flaming Star (1960), Cimarron (1960), Hell Is for Heroes (1962)' Hang 'Em High (1968), Stay Away, Joe (1968), The Brotherhood of Satan (1971), which he co-produced and wrote, Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975), White Line Fever (1975), Lone Wolf McQuade (1983); Casino (1995); Tornado! (1996); The Edge (1997), The Mask of Zorro (1998), and A Prairie Home Companion (2006).
Jones directed, produced, and wrote the screenplay for A Boy and His Dog (1975).
Personal life and death On July 9, 2022, Jones died from natural causes at his Hollywood Hills home in Los Angeles at the age of 94.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1955 Battle Cry Private L. Q. Jones Credited as Justus McQueen 1955 An Annapolis Story Watson 1955 Target Zero Private Felix O'Hara 1956 Santiago "Digger" 1956 Toward the Unknown 2nd Lieutenant Sweeney 1956 Between Heaven and Hell Private Kenny 1956 Love Me Tender Pardee Fleming Uncredited 1957 Men in War Staff Sergeant Samuel Davis 1957 Operation Mad Ball "Ozark" 1957 Gunsight Ridge Lazy Heart Ranch Hand 1958 The Young Lions Private Donnelly Uncredited 1958 Buchanan Rides Alone "Pecos" Hill 1958 The Naked and the Dead Woodrow "Woody" Wilson 1958 Torpedo Run "Hash" Benson 1959 Warlock Fen Jiggs Uncredited 1959 Battle of the Coral Sea Yeoman Halliday 1959 Hound-Dog Man Dave Wilson 1960 The Gambler, the Nun and the Radio Rodeo Rider TV film 1960 Ten Who Dared Billy "Missouri" Hawkins 1960 Flaming Star Tom Howard 1960 Cimarron Millis 1962 Ride the High Country Sylvus Hammond 1962 Hell Is for Heroes Supply Sergeant Frazer 1963 Showdown Foray 1964 Iron Angel "Buttons" 1964 The Devil's Bedroom Director (credited as Justus McQueen) 1964 Apache Rifles Mike Greer 1965 Major Dundee Arthur Hadley 1966 Nevada Smith Cowboy Uncredited 1968 Stay Away, Joe Bronc Hoverty 1968 The Counterfeit Killer Hotel Clerk Hanging Party 1968 Hang 'Em High Loomis, Cooper Hanging Party 1969 The Witchmaker Unknown Uncredited 1969 The Wild Bunch T.C. Nash 1970 The Ballad of Cable Hogue Taggart 1970 The McMasters Russell 1971 The Hunting Party "Hog" Warren 1971 The Brotherhood of Satan Sheriff 1972 43: The Richard Petty Story Ed Koler 1972 The Bravos Ben Lawler TV film 1973 Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid "Black" Harris 1974 Mrs. Sundance Charlie Siringo TV movie 1975 A Boy and His Dog Actor In Porno Film Director and writer 1975 White Line Fever Buck 1975 Winterhawk Gates 1976 Banjo Hackett: Roamin' Free Sheriff Tadlock TV movie 1976 Mother, Jugs & Speed Sheriff Davey 1979 Fast Charlie... the Moonbeam Rider Floyd 1982 The Beast Within Sheriff Bill Pool 1982 Melanie Buford Uncredited 1982 Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann Ben Potter 1983 Sacred Ground Tolbert Coleman 1983 Lone Wolf McQuade Ranger Dakota Brown 1988 Bulletproof Sergeant O'Rourke 1989 River of Death Hiller 1990 The Legend of Grizzly Adams Reno 1994 Lightning Jack Sheriff Tom 1995 The Friends of Harry Senator 1995 Casino Commissioner Pat Webb 1996 Tornado! Ephram Thorne TV film 1997 The Edge Styles 1998 The Patriot Frank 1998 The Mask of Zorro Jack "Three-Fingered Jack" 1999 The Jack Bull Henry Ballard TV film 2001 Route 666 Sheriff Bob Conaway 2006 A Prairie Home Companion Chuck Akers
Television