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SYFY WIRE obituary

Actor Freddie Jones, known for Dune and Krull, dead at 91

By Christian Long
Freddie Jones The Elephant Man

Freddie Jones, an accomplished actor of stage and screen, has died at the age of 91, per The Guardian

A kind of old-fashioned thespian, Jones graced the screen as a number of memorable characters in genre. He worked with filmmaker David Lynch a number of times over his career, first as the cruel freakshow owner Bytes in 1980's The Elephant Man (pictured above). Their collaboration continued when Jones portrayed Thufir Hawat in the 1984 adaptation of Dune, where he (and his eyebrows) managed to steal almost every scene he was in. He also appeared in Lynch's feature Wild at Heart, as well as the short-lived, and utterly indescribable TV series On the Air

Jones also appeared 1983's swashbuckling fantasy Krull as Ynyr, the Old One, who tells Prince Colwin about the existence of the mythical Glaive. He gave similar sage-like advice as the Old Man of Wandering Mountain in The Never-Ending Story III. He dabbled in horror as well, appearing in Hammer's The Satanic Rites of Dracula in 1973, the same year he portrayed Humpty Dumpty in the TV movie Alice Through the Looking Glass

The actor was also no stranger to the world of Sherlock Holmes, appearing in a number of projects over the years, including the 1985 feature The Young Sherlock Holmes, as well as two TV series, The Return of Sherlock Holmes and The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes

Born Frederick Charles Jones in Dresden, Germany back in 1927, he spent 10 years working in a lab assistant at the British Ceramic Research Association before leaving the job to pursue his hobby of stage-acting as a career. It was a decision that clearly worked out well for him, as he was a member of esteemed theatre troupes like The Royal Shakespeare Company, among others. 

Jones is survived by his wife of 54 years, Jennie Heslewood, and their three sons, Toby, Rupert, and Casper.