Jeffrey Jones
Highest Rated: 93% Amadeus (1984)
Lowest Rated: 0% Night of Henna (2005)
Birthday: Sep 28, 1946
Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
Character actor Jeffrey Jones earned an enduring spot in the zeitgeist with his portrayal of frustrated principal Ed Rooney, Matthew Broderick's outwitted nemesis in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Although he has tried to steer clear of playing only sinister roles, the actor's imposing height, bugged-out eyes, easy sneer, and shock of reddish-blond hair give him vaguely devilish features that have prompted villain typecasting. However, the actor is also widely respected and considered a boon wherever he appears.Jones was born on September 28, 1947, a native of Buffalo, NY. He involved himself in pre-med studies at Lawrence University in Wisconsin prior to getting the acting bug. His first jobs were on-stage, initially with Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater, then internationally in South America, Canada, and London. In the late '70s he began working in film and landed one of his first plum roles as Emperor Joseph II in Milos Forman's Amadeus (1984), for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor. This paved the way for Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), in which Jones plays the hissable, cartoonish high school principal hell bent on proving that the title character is faking an illness in order to play hooky. Viewers won't soon forget Rooney's disastrous home invasion in which he is mangled by a dog and thrice karate-kicked by Ferris' sister (Jennifer Grey).But it was the gonzo Howard the Duck, released later that summer, that would truly preview the weird streak of movies with which Jones would begin to affiliate himself. In 1988 he played the good-natured father, one of the most normal characters, in Beetlejuice, his first of several collaborations with director Tim Burton. In 1992 alone he would play a triumvirate of oddball roles: an interplanetary freedom fighter in the goofy Mom and Dad Save the World, an actual demon stand-in in the TV spoof Stay Tuned, and evil bespectacled twins in Out on a Limb. He was also the star of a short-lived sitcom called The People Next Door (1989), in which he played a comic strip artist whose creations come to life. In recent years, Jones worked as a variety of cowardly townspeople in gothic period pieces like The Crucible (1996) and Sleepy Hollow (1999); always full of surprises, he would then go in the other direction by appearing in children's movies, such as Stuart Little (1999) and Dr. Doolittle 2 (2001). These less rewarding, secondary roles have alternated with more deserving work, such as Criswell, the over-dramatic narrator in Burton's juicy Ed Wood (1994). Following accusations of sex with a minor in late 2001, police raided Jones' home and seized numerious items of evidence relating to child pornography. The actor was arrested on related charges one year later.
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
Movies
| Credit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet | Bitelchus | Charles Deetz | — | 2018 |
| No Score Yet | 10.0 Earthquake | Gladstone | — | 2014 |
| 6% | Who's Your Caddy? | Cummings | $5.6M | 2007 |
| 0% | Night of Henna | Producer | — | 2005 |
| 26% | How High | Vice President | $31.2M | 2001 |
| 42% | Dr. Dolittle 2 | Potter | $111.5M | 2001 |
| 53% | Heartbreakers | Mr. Appel | — | 2001 |
| No Score Yet | Cutaway | Producer | — | 2000 |
| 67% | Stuart Little | Uncle Crenshaw | — | 1999 |
| 68% | Sleepy Hollow | Steenwyck | — | 1999 |
| 47% | Ravenous | Colonel Hart | — | 1999 |
| No Score Yet | Life in the Fast Lane (There's No Fish Food in Heaven) | Minister Pete | — | 1998 |
| 67% | The Devil's Advocate | Eddie Barzoon | — | 1997 |
| 8% | The Pest | Gustav Shank | — | 1997 |
| No Score Yet | Flypaper | Roger | — | 1997 |
| No Score Yet | Santa Fe | Dr. Raskin | — | 1997 |
| 68% | The Crucible | Thomas Putnam | — | 1996 |
| 14% | Houseguest | Ron Timmerman | — | 1995 |
| No Score Yet | The Avenging Angel | Milton Long | — | 1995 |
| 92% | Ed Wood | Criswell | — | 1994 |
| No Score Yet | Out on a Limb | Matt/Peter | — | 1992 |
| 40% | Stay Tuned | Spike | — | 1992 |
| 9% | Mom and Dad Save the World | Dick | — | 1992 |
| No Score Yet | Enid Is Sleeping | Floyd | — | 1990 |
| 89% | The Hunt for Red October | Skip Tyler | — | 1990 |
| 55% | Valmont | Mons. Gercourt | — | 1989 |
| 27% | Who's Harry Crumb? | Eliot Draisen | — | 1989 |
| 84% | Beetlejuice | Charles | — | 1988 |
| 60% | Without a Clue | Inspector Lestrade | — | 1988 |
| No Score Yet | The Hanoi Hilton | Maj. Fischer | — | 1987 |
| No Score Yet | Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues | Buffalo Bill | — | 1987 |
| 15% | Howard the Duck | Dr. Walter Jenning | — | 1986 |
| 80% | Ferris Bueller's Day Off | Ed Rooney | — | 1986 |
| No Score Yet | George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation | Actor | — | 1986 |
| 20% | Transylvania 6-5000 | Lepescu | — | 1985 |
| 93% | Amadeus | Emperor Joseph II | — | 1984 |
| No Score Yet | Amadeus: Directors Cut | Actor | — | 1984 |
| 60% | Easy Money | Clive Barlow | — | 1983 |
| No Score Yet | The Soldier | U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense | — | 1982 |
| 73% | A Wedding | Ruteledge Child | — | 1978 |
TV
| Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 95% |
Deadwood 2004-2006 |
A.W. Merrick |
2011 2006 2005 2004 |
| No Score Yet |
America's Next Top Model 2003-2018 |
Appearing |
2006 |
| No Score Yet |
The Outer Limits 1995-2002 |
1998 |
|
| 82% |
Tales from the Crypt 1989-1996 |
Guest |
1993 |
| No Score Yet |
Kojak 1973-1978 |
Attendant |
1977 |
| No Score Yet |
If Tomorrow Comes 1986 |
Budge Hollander |
QUOTES FROM Jeffrey Jones CHARACTERS
Dr. Jenning says: If you can't take the heat, get out of that kitchen!
Delia Deetz says: If you don't let me gut out this house and make it my own, I will go insane, and I will take you with me!
Charles Deetz says: Yeah, well you know, maybe the house could use a little remodeling. Uh... But, why don't you just leave this room alone, okay?
Delia Deetz says: Okay.
Barbara Maitland says: I'm gonna get her.
Spike says: Fasten your seat belts, folks. It's going to be a bumpy ride!
Reverend Steenwyck says: Their heads weren't found severed. Their heads were not found at all.
Ichabod Crane says: The heads are... gone?
James Hardenbrook says: Taken. Taken by the Headless Horseman. Taken back to hell.
Ferris Bueller says: Do you have a kiss for daddy?
Sloane Peterson says: Are you kidding? (they kiss and make out)
Sloane Peterson says: Are you kidding?
Ed Rooney says: (see's this from a distance) hmmm, so that's how it is in their family.
Ed Rooney says: Hmmm, so that's how it is in their family.
Criswell says: Eddie, we're in show biz. It's all about razzle-dazzle. Appearances. If you look good, and you talk well, people will swallow anything.
Criswell says: We are all intrested in the future cause that is where we will be spending the rest of our lives
Criswell says: We are all interested in the future cause that is where we will be spending the rest of our lives.
Emperor Joseph II says: Too many notes.
Dr. Jenning says: I don't have a license. My name is not Jack.
Dr. Jenning says: She took my eggs.
Dr. Jenning says: In the lab that night, we saw a single feather fall. We weren't aware that the rest of you, Howard, had landed in that alley just two miles away. Any questions?
Howard T. Duck says: Yeah. Where are my pants?
Delia Deetz says: Chalrles if you do not let me remodel this house, I will go insane and take you with me!
Charles Deetz says: Yeah...well maybe it could use a fixer up. Tell you what, just this room alone ok?
Charles Deetz says: Yeah...well maybe it could use a fixer up. Tell you what, just this room alone okay?
Ed Rooney says: I don't trust this kid any further than I can throw him.
School Secretary says: Well, with your bad knee, Ed, you shouldn't throw anybody. It's true.
Ed Rooney says: What is so dangerous about a character like Ferris Bueller is he gives good kids bad ideas. Last thing I need at this point in my career is 1,500 Ferris Bueller disciples running around these halls. He jeopardizes my ability to effectively govern this student body.
School Secretary says: He makes you look like an ass, is what he does, Ed.
Ed Rooney says: Thank you, Grace, but I think you're wrong.
School Secretary says: Oh, he's very popular, Ed. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wasteoids, dweebies, dickheads â?? they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude.
School Secretary says: Oh, he's very popular, Ed. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wasteoids, dweebies, dickheads, they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude.
Ed Rooney says: hat is why I need to show these kids that the example he sets is a first-class ticket to nowhere!
Ed Rooney says: That is why I need to show these kids that the example he sets is a first-class ticket to nowhere!
School Secretary says: Oh, Ed, you sounded like Dirty Harry just then.
Ed Rooney says: Really? Thanks, Grace.
Charles Deetz says: As soon as we get settled, we'll build you a dark room in the basement, okay?
Lydia Deetz says: My whole life is a dark room. One big dark room.
Delia Deetz says: So you were miserable in New York City, and now you're going to be miserable out here in the sticks. At least someone's life hasn't been upheaved.
Emperor Joseph II says: There are simply too many notes.
Emperor Joseph II says: Well...there it is.