Facts About L. Q. Jones

Larrylambert
3 min readDec 14, 2023

He was one of the great character actors of all time.

Photo by Rob Laughter on Unsplash

Some guys just have a way of getting your attention when they appear either on the movie screen, or on your TV screen. L. Q. Jones was one of those guys. In addition, Jones played in a disproportionate number of westerns, so he automatically got my attention more than most actors.

Jones had an interesting look and coupled with a Texas/southern drawl that drew attention to himself. Also, he was just an interesting guy. If you watch a lot of TV westerns from the 50s and 60s, you are going to see L. Q. Jones. A lot. So, here are some things you might not have known about L. Q. Jones.

1: Jones was born Justus Ellis McQueen Jr. His first movie role was in the movie, “Battle Cry” and his character’s name was L. Q. Jones.

McQueen/Jones liked the character’s name and used it for his stage name. I’m trying to think of some macho character whose name included a Jr. Even Indiana Jones changed his name from Henry Jones Jr. to Indiana Jones.

2: Before he turned to acting, Jones had an interesting resume.

He tried standup comedy, played professional baseball and football and even tried ranching in…

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Larrylambert

You probably don't know my name, but have likely seen my work. I've written for numerous syndicated cartoon strips and my gags have appeared in national pubs.