My Take
Jeffrey Jones is one of those actors who never quite got the marquee billing he deserved, but the moment he appears on screen you feel it — there's a gravity to him that makes everyone else sharpen up. His Emperor Joseph II in Amadeus is genuinely one of the great comic performances of the 1980s, all imperial obliviousness and that immortal "too many notes" line. Then he turns around and plays Principal Rooney in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and suddenly he's the funniest straight-man in a teen comedy. Beetlejuice added another dimension — bewildered, well-meaning, totally out of his depth. The guy could anchor an ensemble without ever trying to steal it, which is a rarer skill than people realize. His run on Deadwood later confirmed what the movies already showed: Jeffrey Jones makes every scene more interesting just by being in it.
Overview
Jeffrey Duncan Jones (born September 28, 1946) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Emperor Joseph II in Amadeus (1984), Edward R. Rooney in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Charles Deetz in Beetlejuice (1988), Dr. Skip Tyler in The Hunt for Red October (1990), Eddie Barzoon in The Devil's Advocate (1997), and A. W. Merrick in both Deadwood (2004–2006) and Deadwood: The Movie (2019).
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Jeffrey Jones
- Name (Japanese)
- ジェフリー・ジョーンズ
- Reading
- じぇふりー・じょーんず
- Born
- September 28, 1946 (age 79)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Libra / Dog
- Origin
- Buffalo, New York, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- stage actor / film actor / television actor / actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Lawrence University
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.