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Saddle Pals & Sidekicks


Dick Jones
Dickie Jones

Birth name:
Richard Percy Jones, Jr.

1927 - 2014


(From Old Corral collection)

Dick Jones was in his late twenties when he starred as TV's BUFFALO BILL, JR. There were 42 half-hour shows in the series.

Dickie Jones / Dick Jones was born Richard Percy Jones, Jr. on February 25, 1927 in Snyder, Scurry County, Texas to Richard Percy Jones and Icie Laverne Coppedge. His father was a newspaper pressman. Soon after his birth, the family moved to McKinney, Texas which is near Dallas.

In newspaper articles and interviews, Jones mentioned that his movie career was due to guidance and support from Hoot Gibson. In late 1932, Gibson's rodeo was at the Texas State Fair in Dallas, and a very young Dickie Jones did riding and lariat tricks which impressed Hoot. A Dick Jones quote:

"Hoot told my mother the famous words, 'That kid ought to be in pictures.' "

Soon after, Dickie and his mother Laverne were in Hollywood and residing at Gibson's ranch in Saugus, California. His first film was 1934, and he became a very busy kid actor, freelancing in A and B grade films, including a few serials and many low budget westerns. He does show up in Hal Roach's Our Gang / Little Rascals shorts, but wasn't one of the series regulars.

Jones is best remembered as the voice of PINOCCHIO (Walt Disney/RKO, 1940) and also portrayed the puppet in the 1939 LUX RADIO THEATER version of Pinocchio. His voice work for Disney was spread over an eighteen month period.

Next came a stint on radio, and from late 1943 - early 1945, teenager Dickie was "Henry Aldrich" on THE ALDRICH FAMILY program. He was the third Henry Aldrich - Ezra Stone and Norman Tokar played Henry prior to Jones. During that period, he and mother Laverne lived in New York City.

In late February, 1945, he turned eighteen years old, registered for the draft in New York City, and a few months later, began World War II Army service.

After his discharge, he wasn't inundated with movie offers, and kid and teenager Dickie Jones of movies and radio made some changes. He dropped the "Dickie" juvenile name and became plain ol' Dick Jones. The 1950 census is interesting as Dick had two occupations, "Carpenter - Contractor" and "Actor - Motion Pictures".

The carpentry work was building custom furniture and cabinets at his home woodworking shop. And he did get a few TV and movie jobs including Errol Flynn's ROCKY MOUNTAIN (Warners, 1950), Rex Allen's REDWOOD FOREST TRAIL (Republic, 1950), TV's THE LONE RANGER, more.

His life and career got a real boost when he connected with Gene Autry and the team at Gene's Flying A Productions company. Their association ran from 1947 - 1957 and the Autry organization became his primary employer. His first Autry oater was THE STRAWBERRY ROAN (Columbia, 1948), and Dick was twenty years old when filming began in Summer, 1947. He appeared in several more Autry features as well as TV episodes of ANNIE OAKLEY and THE GENE AUTRY SHOW.

Then Flying A cast him as 'Dick West', the saddle pal to great stuntman Jock Mahoney on TV's THE RANGE RIDER (1951 - 1953; 78 half-hour episodes).

His next TV venture was starring as BUFFALO BILL JR. (1955 - 1956; 42 half-hour episodes) and the June 23, 1954 Variety had an announcement - excerpts:

" 'Buffalo Bill Jr.,' new series by Flying A Productions got the starting gun Monday at Apple Valley with Dick Jones, who has been the sidekick to Jock Mahoney in company's 'Range Riders,' upped to stardom status."

"(has) an overall budget of $850,000 for 26 films."

"... CBS Film Sales will handle distribution."

Author and western film fan Stephen Lodge had a relative that worked on the BUFFALO BILL JR TV show, and he visited the Melody Ranch filming location when he was a kid. And was thrilled to see Dick Jones do a "Pony Express Mount". Excerpt from Stephen's writeup:

"We parked and walked up to the cabin where the director, George Archainbaud, was huddled with Dick Jones and a couple of the actors who would be working in the shot they were about to film. As soon as the few strategically placed reflectors were adjusted, and sound and camera said they were ready, the scene was shot. One take. Cut and print. The wranglers hurriedly brought in Dick Jones’s horse, a black one called Chief. Oh boy, I thought, some kind of stunt is coming up. The camera was moved back, re-set; reflectors readjusted. Dick Jones pointed, telling Archainbaud where he was going, what he was about to do. There was absolutely no rehearsal. The director yelled action -- and Dick Jones did what he did best: He ran to the horse, grabbed hold of the saddle horn, and when the horse was in a full run, Jones lifted both legs off the ground, then vaulted into the saddle -- the Pony Express Mount. Wow! I’d never seen that done live and in person. Another Cut and Print. Another scene in one take."

Dick Jones' stats for Autry and Flying A Productions were significant: 134 half-hour TV shows and five films. THE RANGE RIDER and BUFFALO BILL JR showcased his stunt / athletic talents and riding abilities. And during both series, Dick did many personal appearances at rodeos, parades, charity events, etc. In 1955 - 1959, Dell published a BUFFALO BILL JR. comic book which ran for thirteen issues. And kids could also enjoy BUFFALO BILL JR in color via a set of View-Master reels.

Dick and Betty Antha Bacon tied the knot in 1948 and had four children, sons Rick and Jeffrey, and daughters Jennafer and Melody. Jeff and Jennafer were twins.

His overall Hollywood career amounted to about a hundred films and many television programs. Retiring circa 1959, he got involved in real estate, and several sources mention that he founded "White Hat Realty". In his later years, Jones was a popular guest at several film festivals / nostalgia events.

For his work in westerns, Dick received a Golden Boot Award at the 1989 awards ceremony. And in 2000, he became a "Disney Legend" for voicing Pinocchio.

87 year old Dick Jones passed away on July 7, 2014 from injuries suffered in a fall at his Northridge, California home.

There were lots of TV westerns in the 1950s. Among my favs were THE RANGE RIDER and BUFFALO BILL JR. because they were chock full of action, fist fights, wild and crazy horse mounts ... and lots of closeups of Jock and Dick doing stunts. Great memories.

In the links section at the bottom of this webpage, there's a wonderful interview of Jones by Roy Rogers' daughter Cheryl Rogers Barnett. The Rogers and Jones family were close friends. I've highlighted that with an .



(From Imgur)

Dick Jones recording his lines for PINOCCHIO (Disney/RKO, 1940).



(From Old Corral collection)

Dick Jones and Jock Mahoney in TV's THE RANGE
RIDER. There were 78 half-hour shows in this series.

Tom Goethe remembered Dick Jones and an interview on San Francisco's "Fireman Frank" kids TV show in the 1950s:

"Growing up, I lived in a town called Redwood City which is located in the Bay Area about 25 miles south of San Francisco. At the time, I was in elementary school and local TV stations had a lot of late afternoon shows for kids. One show on KRON-TV was called "Fireman Frank" and was hosted by a guy who went by the name of Fireman Frank. He did a lot of kid type games and interviewed anyone who came through the Bay Area for local events. One time he had Lex Barker of the Tarzan movies. He showed up in a loincloth for the interview.

Redwood City had a rodeo every July 4th and they would have actors from TV westerns as a guest star. One year it was Bill Williams from THE ADVENTURES OF KIT CARSON. The next year it was Jock Mahoney and Dick Jones from THE RANGE RIDER. Fireman Frank had Jones on the show one afternoon for an interview, and he talked about working with Jock and some of the happenings in filming the series.

The one story he told was shooting a scene where the two of them were pinned down by outlaws. The scene called for Jock to tell Dick to cover him while he went down the hill and worked his way around the bad guys. Dick said he starting shooting as fast as he could. When the scene was through, Jock came up to him and asked how he was able to shoot so much and so fast. Dick said he went back up the hill and came back with his arms full of guns. He said, "I must have had a million of them." It seems before they set up the scene for filming, he had gone to props and checked out all the sixguns they had and hid them behind a rock. When the filming started, he went and got the guns. He would shoot until one gun was empty, throw it down and grab another one and continue shooting as fast as he could. He did that until the director called cut."

Thanks Tom !

Dick Jones at film festivals and events.

(Courtesy of Ancel Cook)

L-to-R are Monte Hale's brother Bill Hale, Ancel Cook, Monte Hale, and Dick Jones. Photo from a 1998 party for Monte.



(Courtesy of Larry Blanks)

Above - Larry Blanks with Dick Jones and baddie/supporting player John Cliff at the 2000 Charlotte Festival.



(Courtesy of Duane Fulk)

Above - Duane Fulk with guest star Dick Jones at the 2001 Hopalong Cassidy Festival in Cambridge, Ohio. Dick was 74 years old. Duane asked him what it was like working for Gene Autry (Flying A Productions) and he answered, "He was a very nice and knowledgeable man and . . . Mr. Autry's checks never bounced."


Dickie Jones in 1930s B westerns.

(From Old Corral collection)

Left to right in this lobby card from WILD HORSE ROUND-UP (Ambassador-Conn, 1936) are young Dickie Jones, Frank Hagney, star Kermit Maynard, Dick Curtis, and an unidentified player trying to restrain Curtis. Budd Buster is laying on the floor.



(From Old Corral collection)

L-to-R are Dick Jones, Kermit Maynard and pretty Beth Marion (who was mysteriously billed as "Betty Lloyd") in another lobby card from WILD HORSE ROUND-UP (Ambassador-Conn, 1936).



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above from left to right are Muriel Evans, Dickie Jones, and Buck Jones - on his trusty hoss Silver - in SMOKE TREE RANGE (Universal, 1937).



(Courtesy of Bruce Hickey)

Above are Helen Twelvetrees, Dickie Jones, and Buck Jones in HOLLYWOOD ROUNDUP (Coronet/Columbia, 1937). This is one of several westerns about making B westerns. Dickie is Helen's kid brother. Buck is the stand-in and stuntman for a cowboy movie hero played by Grant Withers.



(From Old Corral collection)

Above - Bob Baker, Constance Moore and young Dick Jones in BORDER WOLVES (Universal, 1938). She was also the heroine in Baker's THE LAST STAND (Universal, 1938). Constance Moore did a batch of A and B films, but only a few westerns (including the 1946 IN OLD SACRAMENTO with Bill Elliott). And she played 'Wilma Deering' in Universal's 1939 BUCK ROGERS cliffhanger which starred Buster Crabbe.



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Hero Jack Randall takes out prolific baddie John Merton. Herman Brix (later, Bruce Bennett) is left center facing Lane Chandler. And young Dickie Jones is being corralled by Ernie Adams. From Randall's LAND OF FIGHTING MEN (Monogram, 1938).


Dick Jones with Gene Autry and
Autry's Flying A Productions company:
5 films and 134 half-hour TV shows
In Gene's Columbia westerns:
   THE STRAWBERRY ROAN (Columbia, 1948)
   SONS OF NEW MEXICO (Columbia, 1949)
   WAGON TEAM (Columbia, 1952)
   THE OLD WEST (Columbia, 1952)
   LAST OF THE PONY RIDERS (Columbia, 1953)

In 1950s TV series:
   GENE AUTRY SHOW (10 half-hour shows)
   ANNIE OAKLEY (4 half-hour shows)
   THE RANGE RIDER (78 half-hour shows)
   BUFFALO BILL JR (42 half-hour shows)

(Courtesy of Grand Comics Database)

Above - BB Jr comic #9.

(From Chuck Anderson's childhood collection)

View-Master had BB Jr on a three-reel set of color adventures. Above is "Western Justice", the third reel in the set.

On the trail of Dick Jones.
  Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Dick (Dickie) Jones: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0427934/

Ancestry.com, Family Search, and other sources have more on Dick Jones and family:

  • Family Search had the Texas birth certificate for Richard Percy Jones, Jr. He was born February 25, 1927 in Snyder, Scurry County, Texas to R. P. Jones and Icie Laverne Coppedge: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VHZY-J28
  • 1930 census - renting in McKinney, Collin County, Texas were 27 year old Richard P. Jones (born Texas; occupation "Pressman - Newspaper"), his 23 year old wife Laverne (born Texas), 3 year old son Richard P. Jones, Jr., and 16 year old sister-in-law Gertrude Coppedge: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:C71G-NT2
  • 1940 census - renting in Los Angeles, California were 34 year old Laverne Jones (born Texas; divorced), her 13 year old son Dickey Jones (born Texas), and Laverne's 76 year old father, James Coppedge. Occupations listed for Dickey are "goes to school" and "Actor - Movies": https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9CG-QGT
  • Ancestry.com had the World War II draft registration dated February 27, 1945 for Richard Percy Jones, Jr. (born February 25, 1927 in Texas). He just turned 18 years old and registered in New York City as he was there attending school and doing radio programs. He was living with mother Laverne Jones.
  • As mentioned, Jones turned 18 years of age in late February, 1945 and did Army duty during the last months of World War II. The April 18, 1945 Variety had an article on the search for a new "Henry Aldrich" on the ALDRICH FAMILY radio show - "Dickie Jones, who followed Ezra Stone and then Norman Tokar in the lead role, goes into uniform in a couple of months."
  • Family Search had the April 9, 1948 California Marriage License of 21 year old Richard P. Jones, Jr. (born Texas; occupation "Actor - Studios") and 19 year old Betty Antha Bacon (born California; "college student") in Los Angeles County: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8KG-NJB
  • 1950 census - living in Los Angeles were 23 year old Richard P. Jones (born Texas), his 21 year old wife Betty A. (born California), and newborn daughter Melody D. (born California). He had two occupations - "Carpenter - Contractor" and "Actor - Motion Pictures": https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XL1-M76F
  • Death notice for Dick Jones in the July 9, 2014 Los Angeles Times. There was an error which the LA Times corrected the next day - the obit mentions that Jennafer Jones and Melody Hume were his sisters. They were his daughters.: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-death-of-western-m/134405962/
  • Find A Grave reports that Dick Jones was cremated and cremains were given to family or friend: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/132505307/dick-jones

 Cheryl Rogers Barnett, Roy Rogers' daughter, has a wonderful 30 minute interview with Dick Jones who was guesting at a Lone Pine, California event. The Rogers and Jones family were close friends, and Cheryl recalled babysitting Dick's four children. And Dick was a great guy with a great family. The interview has more on him voicing Pinocchio, and confirms that Hoot Gibson helped him get in to movies. Jones chats about a film he did with Errol Flynn, ROCKY MOUNTAIN (Warners, 1950), and was very complimentary about Flynn's acting talent and style: https://www.cherylrogers.com/interviews/dick-jones-special-guest-tv-talk-show/

Articles on Dick Jones at the Internet Archive:

Multi-page article with many photos of Jones, wife Betty, and their four children in a 1957 issue of Radio TV Mirror magazine: https://archive.org/details/radiotvmir00mac/page/n257/mode/2up?view=theater

Review of BUFFALO BILL JR in a 1955 TV Guide magazine: https://archive.org/details/tvguide-philadelphia-1955-07-02/page/18/mode/2up?view=theater&q=%22Dick+jones%22

Dickie Jones and Hoot Gibson:

April 29, 1933 Los Angeles Times article on six-year old Dickie Jones appearing with Hoot Gibson's Rodeo in Saugus, California: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-six-year-old-dicki/134976045/

April 13, 1934 Los Angeles Evening Citizen News has an article on six-year old Dickie Jones in Hollywood - "Dickie Jones, 6, who crashed the gates of Hollywood a year ago as the protege of Hoot Gibson, will appear as a trick rider at the Gibson rodeo, April 22 (1934).": https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-citizen-news-6-year/134647880/

Dickie Jones as radio's Henry Aldrich:

August 20, 1943 McKinney, Texas Courier-Gazette article - headline reads "Dickie Jones To Take Henry Aldrich Role" : https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-gazette-dickie-jones-to-play/134648539/

August 31, 1944 Press of Atlantic City has a large photo of Dickie Jones as "Henry Aldrich" and his Aldrich Family parents played by Katherine Raht and House Jameson: https://www.newspapers.com/article/press-of-atlantic-city-photo-of-dickie-j/134648883/

J. David Goldin's RadioGoldIndex website has about twenty radio programs listed for Dickie Jones and that includes several 1944-45 episodes of the ALDRICH FAMILY as well as the 1939 LUX RADIO THEATER version of Pinnochio with Jones in the lead role. When you get to the site, click "Start Here", then select "Search By Artist", then select J, and then scroll down for Dickie Jones radio credits: http://radiogoldin.library.umkc.edu/

Dickie Jones and Pinocchio:

Interview of Jones in the June 27, 1992 El Paso Times about Walt Disney's Pinocchio: https://www.newspapers.com/article/el-paso-times-interview-of-dick-jones-wh/134405325/

Dick Jones was the voice of Pinocchio, and in 2000, he became a "Disney Legend": https://d23.com/walt-disney-legend/dick-jones/

Large version of the photo shown at the top of this webpage of Dick Jones recording his lines for PINOCCHIO (Disney/RKO, 1940): https://i.imgur.com/9HaS37E.jpg

Lots of newspaper articles on Jones when he starred as Buffalo Bill Jr.:

Summer, 1955 newspaper clipping announcing Dick Jones as the star of new TV adventure, BUFFALO BILL, JR, and the sponsor was Milky Way candy bars from Mars Candy: https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-paul-recorder-dick-jones-stars-as/135100312/

January 10, 1957 Blairsville, Pennsylvania Dispatch article on Dick Jones as Buffalo Bill Jr. which was sponsored by Mars Candy. And he builds cabinets and custom furniture in his home woodworking shop: https://www.newspapers.com/article/blairsville-dispatch-mars-candy-sponsore/135033441/

August 20, 1956 St. Louis Globe-Democrat article on Dick Jones at the Firemen's Championship Rodeo and visiting kids at the Shriners Hospital: https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-globe-democrat-dick-jones-at-t/135010514/

May 17, 1957 Monrovia, California News-Post article on Dick Jones as Grand Marshal of Monrovia Day Parade: https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-post-and-monrovia-news-post-d/135010125/

May 27, 1957 Eugene, Oregon Guard article on Dick Jones at the Eugene, Oregon Emerald Empire Roundup: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-eugene-guard-dick-jones-tvs-buffa/135010789/

September 27, 1957 Steele, Missouri Enterprise article on Dick Jones at the Mid-South Fair's Championship Rodeo: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-steele-enterprise-dick-jones-tvs/135009811/

More links on Dick Jones:

Dick Jones received a Golden Boot Award at the 1989 awards ceremony. Check the Golden Boot Awards page on the Old Corral.

Jones has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: https://walkoffame.com/dick-jones/

In the late 1950s, Dell had a Buffalo Bill Jr. comic series. The Grand Comics Database has images of some full color photo covers: https://www.comics.org/series/16575/covers/

Stephen Lodge article on his visit to Gene Autry's Melody Ranch, the BUFFALO BILL JR TV show, and seeing Dick Jones do a Pony Express Mount: https://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewArticle.asp?id=11880

Wikipedia bio of Dick Jones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Jones_(actor)

More on Dick Jones at Dennis Ronald's Iverson Movie Ranch Blog: http://iversonmovieranch.blogspot.com/2014/07/we-knew-and-loved-him-as-dickie-jones-b.html

Episodes of THE RANGE RIDER and BUFFALO BILL JR can be viewed or downloaded from YouTube and the Internet Archive:

THE RANGE RIDER on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22the+range+rider%22
BUFFALO BILL JR on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22buffalo+bill+jr%22
THE RANGE RIDER at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/movies?query=%22The+range+rider%22
BUFFALO BILL JR at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/movies?query=%22buffalo+bill+jr%22

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