Sam J. Jones Biography
Samuel Gerald Jones professionally known as Sam J. Jones, is an American actor. He has arguably become well-known for having played the title characters in the 1980 film Flash Gordon and in The Highwayman from 1987 to 1988.
Sam J. Jones Age
Samuel Gerald Jones was born on August 12, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. He is 65 years old as of 2019.
Sam J. Jones Height
Jones stands at a height of 6′ 3″.
Sam J. Jones Net Worth
Jones has a net worth of $14 Million U.S dollars as of 2019.
Sam J. Jones Wife
Jones is married to Lynn Eriks since 1982, they had two children and divorced in 1987. He married Ramona Lynn Jones on June 26, 1992, the couple has three children.
Sam J. Jones Early Life and Education
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Jones grew up in Sacramento, California. After high school in 1972, Jones enlisted in the United States Marine Corps where he played American football. With service in the Corps completed, Jones moved to Seattle with the ambition of joining the Seahawks but was turned down. Instead, in 1976, he played for their practice team, the Flyers, as a semi-professional.
In parallel and to supplement his income, Jones also started modelling. Starting in 1975, Jones appeared in full frontal nude under the alias “Andrew Cooper III” as the centerfold for a photo-spread in the June issue of Playgirl magazine. Jones also starred in TV commercials for a local sporting goods store in Seattle before finally moving to Los Angeles in 1977.
Sam J. Jones Career
In 1979, Jones made his first film appearance in the romantic comedy film 10. His appearance in 10 allowed him to beat Kurt Russell and Arnold Schwarzenegger for his most famous role, that of Flash Gordon in the 1980 film of the same name. He dyed his hair blonde for this role. The film was moderately successful at the box office grossing $27.1 million in North America and $22 million in the UK: double its $20 million budget. However, a falling out between Jones and the producers helped to scrap the planned trilogy.
After the release of Flash Gordon, Playgirl reprinted Jones’ 1975 photo-spread in its January 1981 issue, this time using his real name. Jones went on to play Chris Rorchek in the TV series Code Red from 1981 to 1982. He had guest roles in other TV shows including The A-Team, Hunter and Riptide. Jones played the lead role in a 1987, TV adaptation of Will Eisner’s comics character The Spirit. He also played the title character in the short-lived NBC sci-fi series The Highwayman. In the late 1980s and early 1990s Jones played Johnny Valentine on the HBO series 1st & Ten.
In 1986 Jones starred in the theatrical release My Chauffeur and the straight-to-video movies Jungle Heat in 1985, Jane and the Lost City in 1987, Under the Gun in 1988, Silent Assassins in 1988, Whiteforce in 1988, Driving Force in 1989 and One Man Force in 1989. In the 1990s, he had roles in films including In Gold We Trust in 1990, Maximum Force in 1992, Fist of Honor in 1993, Hard Vice in 1994, Enter the Shootfighter in 1995, Texas Payback in 1995, The Killer Inside in 1996, Earth Minus Zero in 1996, Baja Run in 1996 and American Tigers in 1996 and guest roles in the TV shows Baywatch, Diagnosis Murder and Walker: Texas Ranger.
Jones was cast in Animal Planet’s family series Hollywood Safari in 2001, as a park ranger. He appeared in “Deadman Switch”, an episode of the television series Stargate SG-1. in 2002, he retrained and, when he is not acting or working autograph booths on the ComicCon circuit, Jones works as a high-end security professional in San Diego, protecting traveling executives to Mexico.
In his words “I became a security professional 15 years ago. My wife looked at me and said, ‘You’ve been waiting for the phone to ring. The phone isn’t ringing. We have kids. There’s the door. Don’t come back until you’re providing.’ That’s why I walked away from labels years ago. Actor? I’m a working man. Whatever it takes to provide, I’m a working man”.
Jones portrayed the character of the prisoner Krebb in the 2007, Sci Fi Channel original television series Flash Gordon. He also had extended cameos (as himself, with his blond Flash Gordon hairstyle) in both the 2012 comedy film Ted and its 2015 sequel, Ted 2. In 2019, Life After Flash, a feature-length documentary starring Jones, directed by Lisa Downs & produced by Ashley Pugh, was released worldwide. Life After Flash it not only celebrates the 1980 classic featuring interviews with cast, crew and fans including Melody Anderson, Peter Wyngarde, Brian Blessed, Mark Millar, Robert Rodriguez, Stan Lee and Brian May, but also explores the aftermath of when star Sam J Jones went up against one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood: Dino De Laurentiis.
Sam J. Jones Movies and TV Shows
- 1979 10 as David Hanley (as Sam Jones) – Feature film
- 1980 Stunts Unlimited as Bo Carlson – TV movie
- 1980 Flash Gordon as Flash Gordon – Feature film
- 1981-1982 Code Red as Chris Rorcheck – TV series (14 episodes)
- 1984 The A-Team as Eric Episode – TV series (1 episode)
- 1984 Hunter as Lance Lance – TV series (1 episode)
- 1984 Riptide as Rick Beever – TV series (1 episode)
- 1985 Hardcastle and McCormick as Grant Miller – TV series (1 episode)
- 1985 Jungle Heat as Gordon – Feature film
- 1986 My Chauffeur as Battle Witherspoon – Feature film
- 1987 The Spirit (1987 TV film) as The Spirit / Denny Colt (as Sam Jones)
- 1987–1988 The Highwayman as The Highwayman; TV series (Pilot + 9 episodes)
- 1999 Stargate SG-1 as Aris Boch – TV series (1 episode)
- 2007 Flash Gordon (2007 TV series) as Krebb; TV series
- 2012 Ted as Himself; Feature film
- 2015 Ted 2 as Himself; Feature film
- 2017 Head Games as Spokesman; Short
- 2018 Fury of the Fist and the Golden Fleece as Flash/Man with the Golden Fleece; Film
- 2018 The Silent Natural as Jacob Hoy; Biography (Completed)
- 2018 One of the Good Ones as Billy; Drama (Completed)
- 2019 Axcellerator as Brink; Film
- (TBA) Edgar Allen Poe’s Decapitarium as Dean Usher; Horror