American actor and film director who has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive. Precise, private and sometimes prickly, Jones made an art of playing the dark side of American manhood in a disarming, almost charming way. Nor is he known for courtesy to the press, resulting in less-than-sympathetic interviews.
Jones is eighth-generation Texan from a hard-working family who left home at age 14 to attend St. Mark’s School, a private academy usually reserved for the sons of Dallas millionaires. His parents went to Libya to work on oil rigs and paid for his first year at St. Marks when Tommy made the decision to remain behind, glad to be free of the “psychological brutalizing” of his dad. He won football scholarships from then on.
His parents, Clyde L. Jones and Lucille Marie Scott Jones, divorced twice, the first time when Jones was eight. He had a poem published in the school literary journal when he was 14, marking a life-long literary interest. Jones entered Harvard where he made All-East as an offensive guard and majored in English literature. There he shared a room with Al Gore.
After graduating cum laude, he toured with a company of Ivy League drama students, including John Lithgow, Stockard Channing and James Woods, working in New York on TV soaps and off-Broadway plays.
His first role on TV after graduation was on the soap One Life to Live. He headed for Hollywood in 1975 where he gained notice after portraying the husband of Loretta Lynn with Sissy Spacek in the 1980 hit, Coal Miner’s Daughter. He has pursued challenging roles ever since and brings much originality to his work.
Jones led a restless life until he returned to Texas where he made a permanent home for himself and his family. He married actress-writer Kate Laer in the early 1970s. They divorced amicably after seven years. He then had a relationship with model Lisa Taylor for a few years. He took their break-up badly, falling into an ill temper and a bout of heavy drinking, contributing to his reputation of being difficult.
Marriage to second wife, Kimberlea Cloughley lasted 14 years, ending on 11 August 1995, with Kim asking for custody of their two kids, son Austin, 12, and daughter Victoria, 3. Tommy’s heart lay in their 3,000 acre ranch in San Saba, Texas, where Kim saw the spread as a lot of blank space dotted with cows.
Jones wrote and directed The Good Old Boys for TV; the production aired on 5 March 1995.
Jones enjoys the athletic sport of polo and has played in many a tournament, including the Christopher Reeve Polo Classic in 2000. Originally upon moving from New York to California he tried tennis, found it boring, golf was too slow and when a friend handed him a polo mallet, suddenly he owned eight horses. His schedule keeps him from playing the elitist sport as often as he wishes, but he is pleased to share the interest with his daughter Victoria.
On 19 March 2001, Jones married for the third time at 54 to San Antonio photographer Dawn Maria Laurel, 36.
Link to Wikipedia biography