Jack Jones was practically “Born in a trunk.” He is an award-winning singer born to the late talented singer/movie star Allan Jones and actress Irene Hervey. His early training with an operatic vocal coach has led him into an entirely new career track. Until now, anyone who knew Jack Jones associated him with records, the concert stage and nightclubs. An extended 3-month run as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls at the Sheraton Desert Inn in Las Vegas in the spring of 1995 and his recent portrayal of Emil de Beque in the Theatre League production of South Pacific has changed that perception. He is now viewed as a foremost interpreter of musical theatre, besides being one of the world’s most highly regarded solo concert artists.
What Jones finds particularly gratifying is that he continue to have a robust career on records, the concert stage and television. His recent album on the Sony/Legacy label is simply titled “Jack Jones: The Gershwin Album.” His current album on the Honest Entertainment label is “Jack Jones: Live at the Palladium.” He most recently headlined the PBS special “The World’s Best Love Songs” with the Skitch Henderson Orchestra, and he also starred in the Carnegie Hall tributes to the music of Frank Sinatra and most recently the music of Ella Fitzgerald.
Admirers of his vocal talents include Mel Torme, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Michel Legrand and the late Sammy Cahn. Sinatra has been quoted as saying that, “Jack is one of the major singers of our time,” Legrand refers to Jack as, “…my singer” and Torme describes him as, “the greatest ‘pure’ singer in the world.”
Since making his professional debut at the age of 19 at the Thunderbird Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, he went on to win several highly coveted awards. Among them are two Grammys for “Best Male Vocal Performance,” the first for “Lollipops and Roses,” and his second for “Wives and Lovers.” He was additionally nominated for “Best Male Vocal Performance” for “Impossible Dream,” and his recording of “Wives and Lovers” was nominated for the “Record of the Year” award. Jack was also the recipient of “The Billboard Award of Outstanding Achievement.” His hit records also include: “Impossible Dream,” “The Race Is On,” “Lady,” “Call Me Irresponsible,” “What I Did For Love,” as well as many hit albums, 17 of which climbed to Billboard’s prestigious Top 20 List!
“The Love Boat” theme is a synonymous song with Jack Jones, but he has always been a very popular choice of Hollywood television and film producers to perform title songs. Among his most memorable titles are: “Love With The Proper Stranger,” “Where Love Has Gone,” “A Ticklish Affair,” “This World Is Yours,” “Life Is What You Make It,” “The Kind of Girl She Is,” “Anzio” and “The Kind of Girl She Is” from Sandy Duncan’s “Funny Face” TV series.
Jack is mainly a concert artist. His performances are marked by his wit, sensitivity and vocal power. He has also amassed an impressive array of credits as a stage and movie actor. His movie roles include AIRPLANE II, JUKE BOX RHYTHM, and THE COMEBACK, a British suspense thriller. His long list of television appearances as an actor include the mini-series “Condominium,” “Get A Life,” “It’s A Living,” “Night Court,” “MacMillan,” “Rat Patrol,” “Police Woman,” “Sweepstakes,” “Flying High,” and an episode of “The Love Boat,” which he also wrote, to name a few.
He has been a guest performer on “The Kennedy Center Honors,” and “Christmas In Washington,” a special that originates at The White House with the First Family. Jack hosted his own television show, “The Palace Presents,” which was an internationally syndicated variety show which aired in Great Britain, the United States, and Canada. On PBS, Jack has enjoyed appearing in and hosting immensely popular tribute shows for honoring the careers of musical legends such as Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Jule Styne, and co-hosting the show “Those Fabulous Forties.”
Of his 50 plus record albums, Jack’s personal favorites are “Jack Jones Sings Michel Legrand,” which Jack describes as “An American in Paris communicating with 60 Frenchmen through music,” along with his all-Gershwin album “Jack Jones Sings The Music Of George Gershwin,” “Jack Jones: Live at the London Palladium,” and most recently , “New Jack Swing.”
His world tours have been enormously successful. He has played to audiences in Australia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Switzerland. It was during a concert engagement in Bahrain in the Middle East that he met his English-born wife, Kim.
Jack and Kim are committed to such social causes as Retinitis Pigmentosa, the Salvation Army and Greyhound Pets of America. He also hosts the “The Jack Jones Tennis Tournament” in Palm Desert, California, for the benefit of the AMC Cancer Research Center in Denver, Colorado.
Jack and Kim, and their daughter, Nicole Barclay (b. Feb 7, 1991), make Southern California their home. The family enclave also includes Maxwell, an Italian Greyhound-Terrier mix and Barkley, a full Greyhound, both of which were adopted through Greyhound Pets of America, and a Chihuahua named Rosey. They also rescued two cats from a dumpster; Jasmine and Belle.
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