{{Short description|American actor (1910–86)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Darby Jones | image = File:Darby Jones as Carrefour in the trailer for I Walked with a Zombie (1943).jpg | caption = Jones as Carrefour in ''I Walked with a Zombie'' (1943) | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1910|02|10}} | birth_place = Los Angeles, California | death_date = {{Death date and age|1986|11|30|1910|02|10}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1933–1957 | relations = | spouse = | children = }} '''Darby Jones''' (February 10, 1910 – November 30, 1986<ref name="Peary 1991">{{cite book|last=Peary|first=Danny|date=1991|title=Cult Movie Stars|publisher=Simon & Schuster/Fireside|page=275|isbn=978-0671693947}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Senn|first=Bryan|date=2007|title=A Year of Fear: A Day-by-day Guide to 366 Horror Films|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WJ6vBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA476|publisher=McFarland & Company|page=476|isbn=978-0786431960}}</ref>) was an American actor known for his role as the zombie-like Carrefour in the 1943 horror film ''I Walked with a Zombie''.<ref name="Peary 1991" />{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|pp=97–98, 112–119}} He appeared in a similar role in the 1945 film ''Zombies on Broadway''.<ref name="Vuckovic 2011">{{cite book|last=Vuckovic|first=Jovanka|date=2011|title=Zombies!: An Illustrated History of the Undead|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HdU5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA44|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|page=44|isbn=978-0312656508}}</ref> He had uncredited appearances in the 1937 films ''Swing High, Swing Low'' and ''A Day at the Races'', and his other roles include ''Broken Strings'' (1940), ''Virginia'' (1941), ''White Cargo'' (1942), and ''Zamba'' (1949). Jones also appeared in several Tarzan films, including the 1933 film serial ''Tarzan the Fearless'', and the films ''Tarzan Escapes'' (1936) and ''Tarzan's New York Adventure'' (1942).
In 1991, film critic Danny Peary characterized Jones as having been "even more typecast than the typical black actor," relegated to roles in "jungle pictures."<ref name="Peary 1991" /> Jones's portrayal of Carrefour in ''I Walked with a Zombie'' has received praise and analysis, and has been described as iconic.<ref name="Peary 1991" />{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|pp=97–98, 102–108, 112–119}}<ref name="Vorel 2019">{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/horror-movies/best-horror-movie-of-1943-i-walked-with-a-zombie-val-lewton/|title=The Best Horror Movie of 1943: I Walked With a Zombie|last=Vorel|first=Jim|date=August 16, 2019|website=Paste|access-date=June 29, 2021}}</ref>
==Early life== A native of Los Angeles, Jones broke the Los Angeles high jump record in 1929 at {{convert|6|ft|2.3125|in}} while at Polytechnic High School.<ref name="LA Times">{{cite news |last1=Eckhoff |first1=Irving |title=L. A. High Leads Qualifiers in Major City Track and Field Preliminaries |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/385392481/ |access-date=8 August 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |volume=48 |date=April 10, 1929 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==Career== ===Early films=== Jones made his acting debut in the 1933 film serial ''Tarzan the Fearless'', in an uncredited role as the Head Bearer.<ref name="Kinnard 1983">{{cite book|last=Kinnard|first=Roy|date=1983|title=Fifty Years of Serial Thrills|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38sdAAAAMAAJ|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=43|isbn=978-0810816442}}</ref><ref name="Vermilye 2008">{{cite book|last=Vermilye|first=Jerry|date=2008|title=Buster Crabbe: A Biofilmography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5bG9VEp62gC&pg=PA58|publisher=McFarland & Company|page=58|isbn=978-0-7864-3605-7}}</ref> In 1936, he appeared as Bomba in the film ''Tarzan Escapes''.<ref name="Nash 1985">{{cite book|last1=Nash|first1=Jay Robert|last2=Ross|first2=Stanley Ralph|author1-link=Jay Robert Nash|author2-link=Stanley Ralph Ross|year=1985|title=The Motion Picture Guide T–V|volume=VIII|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_oYqAAAAYAAJ|location=Chicago, Illinois|publisher=Cinebooks, Inc.|page=3284|isbn=0-933997-08-6}}</ref> In 1937, he appeared in the romantic comedy film ''Swing High, Swing Low'' as a black Santa Claus lounging in a Panama café.{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|p=113}} That same year, he was a background extra in the Marx Brothers film ''A Day at the Races'', appearing as a trumpet player during the "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" number in the film.{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|p=97}}
In 1940, Jones played a yokel named Stringbeans Johnson in the film ''Broken Strings''. In one scene, he dances to swing music at a nightclub, executing four midair splits among other dance moves.{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|pp=99, 101}} The following year, Jones appeared in ''Virginia'' as Joseph, a loyal servant on a plantation.{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|p=113}} In 1942, Jones appeared in ''Tarzan's New York Adventure'' in an uncredited role as a Swahili chief,{{sfn|AFI|1995|p=2442}} and in ''White Cargo'' in a credited role as an obedient houseboy named Darby.{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|p=113}}
===''I Walked with a Zombie''=== In 1943, Jones appeared as the zombie-like Carrefour in horror film ''I Walked with a Zombie'',<ref name="Vuckovic 2011" />{{sfn|Jones|2000|p=201}}<ref name="Schneider & Shaw 2003">{{cite book|editor-last1=Schneider|editor-first1=Steven Jay|editor-last2=Shaw|editor-first2=Daniel|date=2003|title=Dark Thoughts: Philosophic Reflections on Cinematic Horror|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Ukm-CfwCW0C&pg=PA77|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=77|isbn=978-0810847927}}</ref> directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton. It is one of Jones's best-known roles, described as recognizable to fans of horror films.<ref name="Peary 1991" /> Historian and author Alexander Nemerov referred to Jones's portrayal of Carrefour as being a "monumental [...] dominant screen presence" in the film,{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|pp=99, 116}} which takes place on a Caribbean island called Saint Sebastian, home to a sugar plantation, a small white community, and descendants of African slaves, some of whom practice voodoo. Nemerov calls Carrefour a "disturbing figure—a sign of slavery past and present and of threats in the future."{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|p=103}} He characterizes Carrefour's image as "conjur[ing] the lynching of a black man",{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|pp=104, 107}} and writes that the character "suggests the violent subjugation ''and'' the emergent power of blacks" during World War II.{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|p=112}} As such, Nemerov called Jones "a minor actor granted extraordinary importance in a Lewton film".{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|p=112}} In 2019, Jim Vorel of ''Paste'' referred to Carrefour's "bug-eyed zombie visage" as "iconic [...] the kind of image that must have haunted the dreams of patrons for years to come".<ref name="Vorel 2019" />
The same year that ''I Walked with a Zombie'' was released, Jones appeared in two uncredited roles: a bellhop in ''Passport to Suez'',{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|p=113}} and a cannibal in ''Sleepy Lagoon''.{{sfn|AFI|1995|p=2217}}
===Later films=== Two years after his appearance as Carrefour in ''I Walked with a Zombie'', Jones played a similar role as the zombie Kolaga in the 1945 comedy horror film ''Zombies on Broadway''.<ref name="Vuckovic 2011" />{{sfn|Jones|2000|p=429}}{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|pp=100, 117–118}} Unlike Carrefour, however, Kolaga commits acts of violence.{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|pp=117–118}} In 1947, Jones appeared in ''The Macomber Affair'' in an uncredited role as a Masai warrior,{{sfn|AFI|1995|p=1442}} and in 1949 he played Keega in the adventure film ''Zamba'' (also known as ''Zamba, the Gorilla'').<ref name="Lentz III 2000">{{cite book|last=Lentz III|first=Harris M.|year=2000|title=Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film and Television Credits|edition=Second|publisher=McFarland & Company|page=1695|isbn=978-0786409518}}</ref> In 1957, Jones appeared in a minor role in the drama film ''Something of Value''.<ref name="Marill 1978">{{cite book|last=Marill|first=Alvin H.|date=1978|title=The Films of Sidney Poitier|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hn0dAQAAIAAJ|publisher=Citadell Press|page=67|isbn=978-0806506128}}</ref>
In 1991, film critic Danny Peary described Jones as having been "even more typecast than the typical black actor," writing that his roles were "limited to jungle pictures."<ref name="Peary 1991" />
==Selected filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Film ! scope=col| Year ! scope=col| Title ! scope=col| Role ! scope=col class=unsortable | Notes ! scope=col class=unsortable | {{Tooltip|Ref(s)|Reference(s)}} |- | 1933 | ''Tarzan the Fearless'' | Head Bearer | Film serial; uncredited role | <ref name="Kinnard 1983" /><ref name="Vermilye 2008" /> |- | 1935 | ''Queen of the Jungle'' | Native | Film serial; uncredited role | <ref>{{cite book|last=Webb|first=Graham|date=2020|title=Encyclopedia of American Short Films, 1926–1959|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZGDwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA441|publisher=McFarland & Company|page=441|isbn=978-1476681184}}</ref> |- | 1936 | ''Tarzan Escapes'' | Bomba | | <ref name="Nash 1985" /> |- |rowspan=2| 1937 | ''Swing High, Swing Low'' | Black Santa Claus | Uncredited role | {{sfn|Nemerov|2005|p=113}} |- | ''A Day at the Races'' | Trumpet player | Uncredited role | {{sfn|Nemerov|2005|p=97}} |- | 1940 | ''Broken Strings'' | Stringbeans Johnson | | {{sfn|Nemerov|2005|pp=99, 101}} |- | 1941 | ''Virginia'' | Joseph | | {{sfn|Nemerov|2005|p=113}} |- |rowspan=2| 1942 | ''Tarzan's New York Adventure'' | Swahili chief | Uncredited role | {{sfn|AFI|1995|p=2442}} |- | ''White Cargo'' | Darby | | {{sfn|Nemerov|2005|p=113}} |- |rowspan=3| 1943 | ''I Walked with a Zombie'' | Carrefour | | <ref name="Vuckovic 2011" />{{sfn|Jones|2000|p=201}}<ref name="Schneider & Shaw 2003" /> |- | ''Passport to Suez'' | Bellhop | Uncredited role | {{sfn|Nemerov|2005|p=113}} |- | ''Sleepy Lagoon'' | Cannibal | Uncredited role | {{sfn|AFI|1995|p=2217}} |- | 1945 | ''Zombies on Broadway'' | Kolaga the Zombie | | <ref name="Vuckovic 2011" />{{sfn|Jones|2000|p=429}}{{sfn|Nemerov|2005|p=100}} |- | 1947 | ''The Macomber Affair'' | Masai warrior | Uncredited role | {{sfn|AFI|1995|p=1442}} |- |rowspan=2| 1949 | ''Rope of Sand'' | Batsuma chief | Uncredited role | {{sfn|AFI|1995|p=2056}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Andreychuk|first=Ed|date=2000|title=Burt Lancaster: A Filmography and Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ooqACgAAQBAJ&pg=PA44|publisher=McFarland & Company|page=44|isbn=978-0786404360}}</ref> |- | ''Zamba'' | Keega | Also known as ''Zamba, the Gorilla'' | <ref name="Lentz III 2000" /> |- | 1957 | ''Something of Value'' | Wine steward | Uncredited role | <ref name="Marill 1978" /> |- |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
===Bibliography=== * {{cite book|date=1995|title=The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures (Film Beginnings)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZkrAQAAMAAJ|publisher=American Film Institute (AFI)|isbn=0-520-21521-4|ref={{harvid|AFI|1995}}}} * {{cite book|last=Jones|first=Stephen|date=2000|title=The Essential Monster Movie Guide: A Century of Creature Features on Film, TV, and Video|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TGhZAAAAMAAJ|publisher=Billboard Books|isbn=978-0823079360}} * {{cite book|last=Nemerov|first=Alexander|author-link=Alexander Nemerov|date=2005|title=Icons of Grief: Val Lewton's Home Front Pictures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9cK4-JsXOJYC|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520241008}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Lee|last2=Allen|first2=Robert L.|date=2001|title=Strong in the Struggle: My Life as a Black Labor Activist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9iLj2CNSRoC|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|pages=42–43|isbn=978-0847691913}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0427845|Darby Jones}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Darby}} Category:1910 births Category:1986 deaths Category:Male actors from Los Angeles Category:20th-century African-American male actors Category:20th-century American male actors