At the age of six, he was hired to perform riding and lariat tricks in the rodeo owned by western star Hoot Gibson, who convinced young Jones and his parents that he should come to Hollywood.

The same year he appeared with Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as Senate page Richard (Dick) Jones.

In 1950, at the age of twenty-three, he played the 16-year-old cook for a small Confederate Army unit in the film Rocky Mountain.

Autry gave Jones his own series, Buffalo Bill, Jr. (1955), which ran for forty-two episodes in syndication.

In early 2009, Jones performed promotional events for the Platinum Edition DVD and Blu-ray release of Pinocchio.

[citation needed] Jones married his wife Betty in 1948, together they had four children; Rick, Jeffrey, Jennifer and Melody.