Ike Jones obit

Veteran Black Film Producer Ike Jones Dies at 84

Maverick filmmaker worked with biggest talent in Hollywood.

 He was not on the list.

Another entertainment pioneer has departed.

Ike Jones, a pioneering African American filmmaker who was born Isaac Lolette Jones on December 23, 1929, in Santa Monica, died on October 11 at an assisted living facility, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Jones had a stroke several months ago and also suffered from congestive heart failure, said his friend Ann Stone. A series of bad investments pushed Jones from a house in Malibu to a rented room where he lived prior to his stroke.

A Los Angeles native and reportedly raised by his stepfather a pig farmer, Jones played high school football for Santa Monica High School and then UCLA. He turned down a draft offer to play for the Green Bay Packers because football was just a means to an end. Jones was real clear; he used football to put himself through college to study film. In so doing, Jones became the first African American to graduate from UCLA's prestigious film school.

Jones was determined to take Hollywood by storm. A 1952 article in Jet magazine said, "Handsome, personable, talented Isaac (Ike) Jones is determined to become the first Negro to crack the Hollywood motion picture industry from the production or executive ends."

He went to work for production companies that oversaw projects for Harry Belafonte and Burt Lancaster, and he headed Nat King Cole's Kell-Cole Productions that produced the singer's highly successful live shows. For the rest of his life, Jones kept a photo of himself and Cole at the White House with President Johnson.

In 1966 Jones was one of the producers of the film A Man Called Adam. Sammy Davis Jr. headed a cast that included Ossie Davis, Cicely Tyson, and Louis Armstrong. Jones said on several occasions that the movie marked the first time a black person produced an A-list picture.

Secretly married to Swedish-born actress Inger Stevens, the pair felt the need to keep the marriage secret to protect their careers. In 1970, Stevens died of an overdose in what was ruled a suicide.

Jones' last major producing credit was on the 1978 TV miniseries "A Woman Called Moses" (with Cicely Tyson as Harriet Tubman). However, Jones was an eternal optimist because even into his 80s, he reportedly was developing projects in hopes of a comeback.

Rest in peace, Ike Jones, rest in peace.

 

Actor

David Hartman in Lucas Tanner (1974)

Lucas Tanner

7.0

TV Series

Ambulance Attendant

1975

1 episode

 

Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974)

Kolchak: The Night Stalker

8.4

TV Series

First Maintenance Engineer (uncredited)

1974

1 episode

 

Kent McCord and Martin Milner in Adam-12 (1968)

Adam-12

7.7

TV Series

Peter Giles

1973

1 episode

 

James Brolin, Robert Young, Barbara Sigel, and Elena Verdugo in Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969)

Marcus Welby, M.D.

7.0

TV Series

Proctor

1973

1 episode

 

This Rebel Breed (1960)

This Rebel Breed

5.7

Latimer

1960

 

John Drew Barrymore and Julie London in Night of the Quarter Moon (1959)

Night of the Quarter Moon

6.3

Cab Driver (uncredited)

1959

 

Anna Lucasta (1958)

Anna Lucasta

6.8

Policeman (as Isaac Jones)

1958

 

Ronald Reagan in General Electric Theater (1953)

General Electric Theater

6.9

TV Series

Sergeant Ben Wheatley (as Isaac L. Jones)

1958

1 episode

 

Suspicion (1957)

Suspicion

8.2

TV Series

Charlie

1958

1 episode

 

John McIntire in Wagon Train (1957)

Wagon Train

7.5

TV Series

Kiowa Indian

1958

1 episode

 

Rock Hudson, Sidney Poitier, and Dana Wynter in Something of Value (1957)

Something of Value

6.5

Askari (Policeman) (uncredited)

1957

 

Lux Video Theatre (1950)

Lux Video Theatre

7.6

TV Series

Gros-Bat

1956

1 episode

 

The Ford Television Theatre (1952)

The Ford Television Theatre

7.5

TV Series

Porter

1956

1 episode

 

TV Reader's Digest (1955)

TV Reader's Digest

7.4

TV Series

(as Isaac Jones)

1956

1 episode

 

Jungle Jim (1955)

Jungle Jim

7.4

TV Series

Panu

1956

1 episode

 

Producer

The Oklahoma City Dolls (1981)

The Oklahoma City Dolls

6.1

TV Movie

executive producer

1981

 

A Woman Called Moses (1978)

A Woman Called Moses

7.8

TV Mini Series

producer

1978

2 episodes

 

James Earl Jones, Louis Gossett Jr., Cicely Tyson, Jonelle Allen, and Glynn Turman in The River Niger (1976)

The River Niger

6.0

producer (as Isaac L. Jones)

1976

 

Sammy Davis Jr. in A Man Called Adam (1966)

A Man Called Adam

6.6

producer (produced by)

1966

 

Second Unit or Assistant Director

Teenage Zombies (1959)

Teenage Zombies

2.9

assistant director

1959

 

Coley Wallace in The Joe Louis Story (1953)

The Joe Louis Story

5.8

assistant director (as Isaac Jones)

1953