Dick Jones - Where the Action Was

by Ann Snuggs

Dick Jones, a former child actor, may be best known as the voice of Pinocchio in Walt Disney's Pinocchio (1940), but his long and fascinating career began much earlier. A phenomenal horseman, he was performing in rodeos at the age of four, billed as "The World's Youngest Trick Rider and Trick Roper." Upon seeing his skill, Hoot Gibson commented that the kid should be in the movies, and Dick was soon on his way to Hollywood."

Early film roles included Little Men (1934), A Man to Remember (1938), several of Hal Roach's Our Gang (Little Rascals) shorts, Nancy Drew, Reporter (1939), and with Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). Old Time Radio audiences also regularly heard Dick as Henry Aldrich on The Aldrich Family.

After serving in the US Army in World War II, he often guest-starred on The Gene Autry Show in the early 1950s, as well as on The Lone Ranger.

He became a household name in two early action-filled television Western shows, The Range Rider, in which he played Dick West, Range Rider's (Jock Mahoney) teenage sidekick and saddle partner, and Buffalo Bill, Jr., in which he portrayed the title character. Dick and Jock were fine athletes and skilled at the art of performing action sequences that wowed audiences.

Through Dick's recollections and commentary by the author, discover the series, the stars, the supporting players, staged fights that took hours of choreography, action sequences that went wrong, and Dick's personal appearances at rodeos with Jock Mahoney. Experience the action when they performed on camera and on the road.

Includes an alphabetical Index of Episodes, a general Index, two Appendices, and a discussion of sources. Illustrated with 51 photos, including Dick's personal collection of publicity shots, action scenes, and still shots from the set, as well as photographs taken by the author, including the Dick Jones display at the Gene Autry Oklahoma Museum, at festivals, and of The Range Rider and Buffalo Bill, Jr. comics.