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Dean Jones, boyish Disney star, dies at 84

LOS ANGELES

Dean Jones, whose boyish good looks and all-American manner made him Disney’s favorite young actor for such lighthearted films as “That Darn Cat!” and “The Love Bug,” died of Parkinson’s disease in Los Angeles on Tuesday. He was 84.

Publicist Richard Hoffman announced Jones’ passing Wednesday.

Jones’ long association with The Walt Disney Co. began after he received an unexpected call from Walt Disney himself, who praised his work on the TV show “Ensign O’Toole,” noting it had “some good closing sequences.” Jones, himself a former Navy man, played the title role in the 1962 sitcom.

Jones puzzled over Disney’s remark until it occurred to him that “Ensign O’Toole” preceded Disney’s own Sunday night show on NBC, and he realized Disney probably only watched each episode’s ending.

Two years later, Jones heard from Disney again, calling this time to offer him a role in “That Darn Cat!” opposite ingenue Hayley Mills. His FBI agent Zeke Kelso follows a crime-solving cat that leads him to a pair of bank robbers.

Released in 1965, it would the first of 10 Disney films Jones would make, most of them in the supernatural vein.

Associated Press