Hollywood stars don’t come any bigger or brighter thanTommy Lee Jones. The Texas-born hunk carved a path for himself with rugged good looks, dead-pan humor, and a twang that somehow melts even the staunchest of hearts. TLJ began his working career on an oil rig before moving on to study at Harvard on a scholarship (he roomed with Al Gore). After he graduated, he moved to New York and hit the Broadway scene, then made his movie debut as Hank, Ryan O’Neal’s roommate in Love Story (1970). He paid his dues as Dr. Mark Toland on the soap opera One Life to Live, then hit all the primetime hits like Barnaby Jones and Charlie’s Angels. Tommy caught our eye when he bared his toned chest as John Neville in the movie Eyes of Laura Mars (not to mention that flop of hair), and bared his butt during a bedroom scene in the romantic comedyBack Roads(1981). He nabbed his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his part as Clay Shaw in the film JFK (1991); he took home the gold-man statuette for The Fugitive (1993), where he played Samuel Gerard. All told, he’s been nominated over 90 times, and won over 40—not bad for a guy who only has 85 credits as an actor. Other successes for TLJ include Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980), Natural Born Killers (1994), Batman Forever (1995), the Men in Black franchise (1997, 2002, 2012), No Country for Old Men (2007), Jason Bourne (2016), and Space Cowboys (2000), where he uses a body double instead of baring his aged ass. It’s Tommy Lee Jones. He can do what he wants.
