LQ Jones is dead: Western actors from "The Flaming Star" and "The Wild Bunch":

Enlarge image

LQ Jones in 1982's The Beast Within: Character head from the second row

Photo: Ã United Artists/courtesy Everett Collection / imago images/Everett Collection

Was born as Justus McQueen.

But after making his film debut in 1955 with a small part in the war epic »Battle Cry«, he simply kept the role name of the time: LQ Jones.

The straw-blonde man with the angular facial features established himself as one of the most sought-after supporting actors in Hollywood.

Most of the time, LQ Jones was seen with a gun - he was repeatedly cast in war films and especially in westerns.

In 1958 he acted in Raoul Walsh's Norman Mailer film »The Naked and the Dead« alongside Cliff Robertson, and in 1960 he played in Don Siegel's western »The Flaming Star« alongside Elvis Presley.

From the 1960s he was a permanent member of the ensemble of actors that director Sam Peckinpah assembled around him.

In his films, Peckinpah developed his very own aesthetic of violence, which was later often copied, preferably in the thriller and western genres.

LQ Jones has been in almost every major Peckinpah western, from Sacramento (1962) to The Wild Bunch (1969) to Pat Garrett Chases Billy the Kid (1973).

In 1975, LQ Jones also directed and filmed the science fiction thriller The Boy and His Dog;

in the title role was the young Don Johnson, who later became the star of the police series Miami Vice.

LQ Jones also worked more often for television.

In the 1970s and 1980s he appeared in individual episodes of »Columbo«, »Charlie's Angels« and »Just in Case«.

One of his last major roles was in the 1998 Steven Seagal action film The Patriot.

As reported by the industry magazine Variety, among others, LQ Jones died on Saturday at his home in Hollywood Hills.

He was 94 years old.

cbu