Born April 28, 1930 in Amarillo, Texas to a barber and his wife, Carolyn (Sue) Jones, along with her younger sister and her mother, moved in with her maternal grandparents in their Amarillo home after her father abandoned the family in 1934.
Unable to attend films due to her acute asthma, Jones became an avid reader of Hollywood fan magazines, inspiring her to go to Hollywood and become an actress. At 17, she enrolled in the Pasadena Playhouse, her tuition was paid by her grandfather. While there, she married fellow student Don Donalson in 1950, but the marriage didn’t last. They were divorced the following year.
After being spotted at the Playhouse by a talent scout, Jones signed a contract with Paramount and was given an uncredited role in 1952’s The Turing Point. Additional uncredited roles in Road to Bali and The War of the Worlds interspersed with TV roles, led to her first major film role in the 1953 horror classic, House of Wax. Further early roles included those in The Big Heat, Shield for Murder and Desirée, with multiple appearances on 1950s TV series. In 1953 she married TV producer Aaron Spelling. The marriage would last through 1964 when they divorced amicably, remaining friends for the rest of her life.
Roles in 1955’s The Seven Year Itch and The Tender Trap led to another major role for Jones in the 1956 science fiction/ horror classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Supporting roles in The Man Who Knew Too Much and The Opposite Sex led to an Oscar nominated performance in 1957’s The Bachelor Party. Major roles in Marjorie Morningstar, King Creole, Last Train from Gun Hill, A Hole in the Head, Career, and Ice Palace soon followed. In 1962, she was one of the stars of the all-star cast film, How the West Was Won, in which she played George Peppard’s wife.
Jones had the role of her career Morticia Addams in TV’s The Addams Family which ran from 1964-1966.
After her success with The Addams Family, Jones spent most of her career on TV where she had roles in many popular shows including Batman, Love – American Style, The Name of the Game, The Virginian, Wonder Woman, Little Ladies of the Night, Roots, The Love Boat, and Fantasy Island.
Despite being diagnosed with colon cancer in 1981, Jones was nevertheless cast in the daytime serial Capitol in 1982. She had aggressive treatment for the cancer, but it returned during her time on the show, and she was told it was terminal.
She played some scenes despite being confined to a wheelchair and working in great pain. Although they knew she was dying, she married her boyfriend of five years, Peter Bailey-Britton, in September 1982.
Carolyn Jones died on August 3, 1983 at 53.
ESSENTIAL FILMS
HOUSE OF WAX (1953), directed by André de Toth
If Jones wasn’t widely known before her portrayal of one of the victims in this perennial horror classic, she certainly was after. This remake of 1933’s Mystery of the Wax Museum was one of the first and most successful 3D films even though director de Toth was blind in one eye and could not experience its 3D effects. It launched the phenomenal career change that made character actor Vincent Price a superstar and gave career boosts to leading lady Phyllis Kirk, co-star Jones, and future star Charles Bronson as Price’s assistant, Igor. It remains popular to this day, Warner’s dual 3D – standard Blu-ray release having assured that.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956), directed by Don Siegel
Jones was once again the second female lead in a horror classic, albeit one that also ranks high among the greatest science fiction films of all time. The film also successfully launched the career of leading lady Dana Wynter and gave Kevin McCarthy the role of his career as the scientist running to warn people of the invading pod people, still running in the equally successful 1978 remake of the film. The film brilliantly plays on the irrational belief that someone they know or recognize has been replaced by an impostor, or what is clinically called Capgras Syndrome or Capgras Delusion.
THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956), directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Does anyone remember Jones in this Hitchcock classic? The answer is probably not. I certainly don’t, yet this is the film IMDb. chooses to highlight as representative of Jones’ entire career. While the film is arguably the best known of all her films, Jones is sixteenth billed in Hitchcock’s remake of his 1934 British film. An Oscar winner for the song, “What Ever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)”, it boasts memorable performances by screen legends James Stewart and Doris Day with strong support from Brenda de Banzie and Bernard Miles, but Carolyn Jones, no. IMDb., who makes these highlight decisions?
THE BACHELOR PARTY (1957), directed by Delbert Mann
Jones received her only Oscar nomination for her picture stealing six-minute portrayal of a kooky seductress opposite Don Murray, a role she almost turned down due to problems with the script. The notoriously iron-willed, take no prisoners, Paddy Chayefsky amazingly agreed to rewrite his dialogue for her. It was his newly written line, “Just say you love me, you don’t have to mean it” that changed her mind. The women in the film are not named. Jones’ character is billed only as “the existentialist”. Patricia Smith and Nancy Marchand are billed as “the wife” and “the sister-in-law”, respectively.
CAREER (1959), directed by Joseph Anthony
Anthony Franciosa won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of the determined Broadway actor. Jones was originally cast as his kookie girlfriend, with Shirley MacLaine cast as his agent, but Jones switched roles with MacLaine because she wanted a less flamboyant role after having played a similar kook in The Bachelor Party. The gamble played off. Reviewers were more impressed by Jones in what is now regarded as the performance as her career while MacLaine’s performance is generally dismissed as one of the weakest of her otherwise impressive early career. Dean Martin also stands out as a New York hustler to Franciosa’s hayseed.
CAROLYN JONES AND OSCAR
The Bachelor Party (1957) –nominated Best Supporting Actress
