Education
Jones, a native of Santa Monica, California, studied motion picture production at University of California, Los Los Angeles While at University of California, Los Angeles, he was also star end for the Bruins football team
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Ike Jones
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He also had the distinction of being the first black graduate of University of California, Los Angeles Film School in June 1953 (with a degree in film studies) and the first black person to serve as a producer on a major motion picture. After graduating from University of California, Los Angeles, Jones was drafted in the 25th round by the Green Bay Packers in the 1953 NFL Draft. That same year, Jones worked as an actor in bit parts and served as an assistant director on The Joe Louis Story.
Later on in the decade, Jones worked as an assistant producer for Hill-Hecht Lancaster Company.
After that production company folded, Harry Belafonte hired him as vice president of development for Harbel Productions. In the 1960s, Jones headed National King Cole"s Kell-Cole Productions.
After the singer"s death, Jones was hired as a producer on A Manitoba Called Adam, a film starring Sammy Davis, Junior. This was the first time that an African American was hired as a producer on a major motion picture.
In 1995 he became the first recipient of the Oscar Micheaux Award by the Producers Guild of America.
Jones died "of complications from a stroke and congestive heart failure" in an assisted-living facility in Los Angeles on October 5, 2014. He was 84.
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Born
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Died
October 5, 2014 (aged 84) -
Nationality
United States -
Ethnicity