Happy 68th Birthday, Tommy Lee Jones: Some Of His Best Movie Moments

Tommy Lee Jones celebrates his 68th birthday today. Born in San Saba, Texas on September 15, 1946, he is not only an actor but has also successfully tried his hand at directing and screenwriting. All through high school and college, Tommy loved to fill his spare time with sports, drama, and other arts. He majored in English literature.

As a Harvard graduate, Tommy Lee Jones decided to head to New York to explore method acting. Shortly after, in 1975, he moved to Hollywood for more opportunities since Broadway turned out to to be disappointing for him. He now has a long list of movies that he has starred in throughout his 40-year career. From 1970 to 2014, Tommy has been in well over 50 movies.

One of the first more popular movies that Tommy had a leading role in was the Coal Miner’s Daughter. In this film, he plays Doolittle Lynn, husband to Loretta Lynn, who is played by Sissy Spacek. This is a romantic story that demonstrates that love wins all. The movie is a biopic about Loretta Lynn’s life and career, as well as her relationship with Doolittle Lynn.

Doolittle meets Loretta and they instantly click. They eventually get married. Doolittle gives a guitar to Loretta for their anniversary, disregarding her request for a wedding ring. At first, she is upset because she does not understand why Dolittle would give her an instrument she knows nothing about. Released in March of 1980, Tommy Lee was nominated for Best Actor at the Golden Globes.

Another one of Tommy’s most popular roles was in the movie The Fugitive. In this is edge-of-the-seat thriller, Tommy plays deputy Samuel Gerard who is responsible for tracking down Harrison Ford’s character, Dr. Richard Kimble, a man accused of murdering his wife. Released in 1993, Tommy Lee Jones won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar for playing Samuel Gerard in this movie.

Next in the line-up of most popular movie roles for Tommy is Men In Black. Released in 1997, this movie is based off the original comic book. Tommy Lee plays special agent K alongside Will Smith as special agent J. Tommy was nominated for the Favorite Actor at the 1998 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for his role in this amazing sci-fi thriller. He was also nominated at the MTV Movie Awards in 1998 for Best On-Screen Duo with Will Smith. The third nomination for Tommy in this movie was at the 1998 Satellite Awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture.

Another popular film role that Tommy Lee Jones played was in the movie Lincoln, release in 2012. In this film, he plays a Republican Congressman of Pennsylvania by the name of Thaddeus Stevens alongside Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field. This historical biopic had an impressive run at the box office, bringing in more than $275 million worldwide.

Throughout his career, the birthday boy has been nominated for 60 awards and has won a grand total of 43 of them, no doubt a testament to his contribution to motion picture history. The many faces that he has played have definitely served to entertain audiences throughout the years, and he doesn’t show any sign of slowing down anytime soon. His latest offering, Criminal, is currently in the production stage with a wrap and release date to be determined.

Tommy Lee Jones has definitely been a gift to the entertainment industry throughout his career, so we’re hoping that he gets plenty of great presents today as he celebrates the beginning of his 68th year. Happy birthday Tommy Lee Jones, and here’s to many more!

[Photo credit: The Hollywood News]