Buck Jones

(From Old Corral image collection)

Above, Buck and trusty steed Silver guard the trail circa 1934.

Buck Jones Club pin above courtesy of Bill McCann.

Buck Jones

Real name: Charles Frederick Gebhart
(Some biographies incorrectly show Gebhard or Gebhardt)

1891 - 1942

Buck's real name was Charles Frederick Gebhart, and his oft reported birth dates and birth place is December 4, 1889 or December 12, 1891 in a "small house on the outskirts of Vincennes, Indiana". Buck's parents are generally identified as Charles and Evelyn Showers Gebhart. Apparently, there is no birth certificate or other documentation to confirm Buck's real birth date. Communiques to the Knox County, Indiana Health Department (Vincennes, Indiana) resulted in a reply of 'no record found'. The Vincennes Chamber of Commerce replied that December 12, 1891 was the date they have. Am checking some other Vincennes sources, and will report if I have any luck ... but am not optimistic as other western film historians and authors have tried to locate a birth certificate and failed.

If you look back to days of the silent horse opera, the early stars included William S. Hart. In the 1920s, the 'big guns' were Hoot Gibson, Ken Maynard, Tom Mix, and the subject of this profile, Charles 'Buck' Jones. Jones did dozens of oaters at Fox in the 1920s. And it was there that he built and perfected his screen personna doing films that were solid, respectable, and well received at the Saturday matinees ... though the productions were a step down from those of Fox's primary cowboy star, Tom Mix.

Initially billed as 'Charles Jones', he adopted the screen moniker of 'Buck Jones' by the mid 1920s. Around that time, he also acquired a white steed by the name of 'Silver'.

A quick review of the film credits of Jones' silents shows a veritable 'who's who' of directors that would make their mark in subsequent years doing both A and B grade movies. Included were John Ford, William Wellman, W. S. 'Woody' Van Dyke and Lambert Hillyer.

While at Fox, Buck met Scott Dunlap, who would produce and/or direct some of his pictures. The two would become lifelong friends and business associates. Their trails would cross again in the early 1940s at little Monogram Pictures ... and fate would also bring them together at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston on November 28, 1942.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. More on Buck's birth date and early years in the next couple webpages.

(Image courtesy of Les Adams)

1924 - and billed as Charles Jones.

(Image courtesy of Les Adams)

1926 - billed as Buck Jones ... and riding Silver. Note the Scott Dunlap producer credit. It was during these Fox silents that Dunlap and Jones became friends.

(From Old Corral image collection)

Above is Buck Jones on the original 'Silver' (who was also called 'Silver Buck'). Buck would acquire two more white horses - one named 'Sandy' and other called 'Eagle'. Depending on the action or content in a particular scene or film, Buck would ride one of these horses - or he'd switch off and use two or three mounts in the film.