Richard Percy Jones (February 25, 1927 â€" July 7, 2014), known as
Dick Jones or Dickie Jones, was an American actor and singer, who
achieved success as a child performer and as a young adult, especially
in B-Westerns. In 1938, he played Artimer "Artie" Peters, nephew of
Buck Peters, in the Hopalong Cassidy film The Frontiersman. He may be
best known as the voice of Pinocchio in Walt Disney's film of the same
name.Jones was born on February 25, 1927, in Snyder, some ninety miles
south of Lubbock, Texas. The son of a newspaper editor, Jones was a
prodigious horseman from infancy, having been billed at the age of
four as the "World's Youngest Trick Rider and Trick Roper". At the age
of six, he was hired to perform riding and lariat tricks in the rodeo
owned by western star Hoot Gibson, who convinced young Jones and his
parents that he should come to Hollywood. Jones and his mother moved
there, and Gibson arranged for some small parts for the boy, whose
good looks, energy, and pleasant voice quickly landed him more and
bigger parts, both in low-budget westerns as well as in more
substantial productions.Among his early film roles are Little Men
(1934) and A Man to Remember (1938). Jones appeared as a bit player in
several of Hal Roach's Our Gang (The Little Rascals) shorts, including
The Pigskin Palooka and Our Gang Follies of 1938 (both from 1937). In
1939, Dickie Jones appeared as a troublesome kid named 'Killer
Parkins' in the film Nancy Drew... Reporter. In the film he did a good
imitation of Donald Duck. The same year he appeared with Jimmy Stewart
in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as Senate page Richard (Dick) Jones.
In 1940, he had one of his most prominent (though invisible) roles, as
the voice of Pinocchio in Disney's 2nd animated film of the same name.
Jones attended Hollywood High School and at fifteen took over the role
of Henry Aldrich on the hit radio show The Aldrich Family. He learned
carpentry and augmented his income with jobs in that field. He served
in the Army in the Alaska Territory during the final months of World
War II.
Dick Jones or Dickie Jones, was an American actor and singer, who
achieved success as a child performer and as a young adult, especially
in B-Westerns. In 1938, he played Artimer "Artie" Peters, nephew of
Buck Peters, in the Hopalong Cassidy film The Frontiersman. He may be
best known as the voice of Pinocchio in Walt Disney's film of the same
name.Jones was born on February 25, 1927, in Snyder, some ninety miles
south of Lubbock, Texas. The son of a newspaper editor, Jones was a
prodigious horseman from infancy, having been billed at the age of
four as the "World's Youngest Trick Rider and Trick Roper". At the age
of six, he was hired to perform riding and lariat tricks in the rodeo
owned by western star Hoot Gibson, who convinced young Jones and his
parents that he should come to Hollywood. Jones and his mother moved
there, and Gibson arranged for some small parts for the boy, whose
good looks, energy, and pleasant voice quickly landed him more and
bigger parts, both in low-budget westerns as well as in more
substantial productions.Among his early film roles are Little Men
(1934) and A Man to Remember (1938). Jones appeared as a bit player in
several of Hal Roach's Our Gang (The Little Rascals) shorts, including
The Pigskin Palooka and Our Gang Follies of 1938 (both from 1937). In
1939, Dickie Jones appeared as a troublesome kid named 'Killer
Parkins' in the film Nancy Drew... Reporter. In the film he did a good
imitation of Donald Duck. The same year he appeared with Jimmy Stewart
in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as Senate page Richard (Dick) Jones.
In 1940, he had one of his most prominent (though invisible) roles, as
the voice of Pinocchio in Disney's 2nd animated film of the same name.
Jones attended Hollywood High School and at fifteen took over the role
of Henry Aldrich on the hit radio show The Aldrich Family. He learned
carpentry and augmented his income with jobs in that field. He served
in the Army in the Alaska Territory during the final months of World
War II.
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