Buck Jones (born Charles Frederick Gebhart; December 12, 1891[1] – November 30, 1942) was an American actor, known for his work in many popular Western movies.

[2] In 1907 he joined the United States Army a month after his 16th birthday: his mother had signed a consent form that gave his age as 18.

He was assigned to Troop G, 6th Cavalry Regiment, and was deployed to the Philippines in October 1907, where he served in combat and was wounded during the Moro Rebellion.

Through his association with Stillman he began working extensively as a test driver for the Marmon Motor Car Company.

Because he wanted to learn to fly, he requested a transfer to the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps in 1913, without knowing that only an officer could become a pilot.

[3] While in Los Angeles, and with his wife pregnant, Jones decided to leave the cowboy life behind and get a job in the film industry.

He had more than 160 film credits to his name by this time and had joined Hoot Gibson, Tom Mix, and Ken Maynard as the top cowboy actors of the day.

He then organized a touring Wild West show, with himself as a featured attraction, but this expensive venture also failed due to the faltering economy of late 1929.

[3] With the new talking pictures replacing silent films as a national pastime, Westerns fell out of favor—recording soundtracks outdoors was not yet perfected.

In 1930 he signed with producer Sol Lesser to star in Westerns for $300 a week, a fraction of his top salary in the silent-film days.

[10] Jones himself was still trapped inside the nightclub, reported author John C. Esposito, and "was found clinging to life on the terrace where he had been seated all evening.

"[11] The details of Jones being rescued were related in Paul Benzaquin's 1959 account: "[Watson of the Coast Guard] spotted a body whose feet wore a pair of beautifully tooled leather cowboy boots... 'He's breathing.

After her divorce from Beery, she married Nicholas Firfires, a Cowboy Hall of Fame Western Artist, on August 11, 1969.