Boyish-looking, squeaky-clean leading man of the 1960s and 70s who began his career as a blues singer before making his film debut in 1956. Jones gained prominence for his starring roles in a succession of Disney family comedies in the 1960s, most notably "That Darn Cat!" (1965), "The Love Bug" (1968), "Million Dollar Duck" (1971), "The Shaggy D.A." (1976) and "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo" (1977).Jones also starred briefly on Broadway in Stephen Sondheim's sophisticated dissection of modern marriage, "Company" (1970) and received praise for the innocent, dopey quality he brought to the role of
Landed his own local radio show "Dean Jones Sings" while still a student of Riverside High School in Decatur AL
Left home at fifteen to become a singer; worked as a coal loader, timber cutter, cotton picker and dishwasher before making professional debut as a blues singer in a New Orleans nightclub (earning $3 an hour and all he could eat until the club folded)
Returned to Decatur to finish high school
1953
Served in US Navy Air Corps, operating radio-controlled aircraft for fleet gunner practice; produced entertainment programs on the base and sang on the local San Diego TV program, "Liberty Call"
Hired to sing in a melodrama produced at Knott's Berry Farm amusement park, Los Angeles where composer Vernon Duke heard him and introduced him to composer Frank Loesser who brought Jones to MGM where he was signed as a singer
