David Thomas “Davy” Jones first invaded teen hearts as the international idol of millions in the 1960’s Emmy Award-winning television classic, The Monkees. His Tony-nominated role as The Artful Dodger in the original London and Broadway productions of Oliver! led to a contract with Screen Gems and Colpix Records. After The Monkees first disbanded in 1971, Davy launched a solo career that included recordings, song writing, live performances, theatre, TV, film & personal appearances. An extremely able horseman who once dreamed of a career as a jockey, Jones earned his amateur riding licence in the late 1970’s, rode his first winner at the age of 50 and kept a stable of horses which he trained. After years of telling stories of his incredible life, Davy penned an autobiography (or “ought-to-buy-ography” as he called it) in 1987, They Made a Monkee Out of Me, as well as two more titles.  Davy was always interested in new ideas and started many businesses, from clothing & art stores to a record label and music publishing company. Throughout his life, Jones gave generously to many charities, and worked especially hard to raise funds and awareness for MS. With a career that spanned five decades, Davy Jones will always have a secure place in pop culture history as well as in the hearts of his ever-growing global fan base!

Born December 30, 1945 in Openshaw, Manchester, England as the youngest of four and only son of Harry & Doris Jones, David grew up a happy, energetic child. He showed promise in athletics, acting and music. In late 1959, his Aunt Jessie became his first agent when she answered an ad in the Manchester Evening News calling for “school boys to audition for a radio play”. David got the lead role in There is a Happy Land, at the time the longest part ever written for a teenager in a B.B.C. play. From there, David was cast in TV roles on June Evening, Z-Cars and as Colin Lomax, the grandson of Ena Sharples on the iconic British soap opera, Coronation Street. During this time, Doris Jones passed away after many years of suffering from emphysema. This prompted David to change plans and pursue a career as a jockey instead of acting. His father was put in touch with Newmarket-based trainer Basil Foster after contacting a local paper in Manchester regarding his son. After a six week trial during the summer of 1960, David quit school and moved to Newmarket at the end of the year to begin his apprenticeship with Basil Foster at Holland House. It was during his time as an apprentice jockey that David’s career and life would change forever.

A talent agent who owned horses trained by Basil Foster took a liking to the charming young stable boy and, learning of his past experience on television & radio, had David come to London to audition for a part in Lionel Bart’s new musical production of Oliver! His Mancunian accent was the only problem, and was encouraged to try again for the part. David perfected his cockney dialect while appearing as Little Michael in a stage production of Peter Pan that starred Jane Asher as Wendy. When the play ended, he returned to London and secured the role of The Artful Dodger. After a successful run in the West End, Oliver! was Broadway bound, including 16 year-old David Jones! Starring alongside veteran actors, Georgia Brown and Clive Revill, David stole the show night after night and eventually earned a Tony nomination. David, along with his cast mates, appeared on The Ed Sulllivan Show on February 9, 1964, the same night The Beatles were introduced to American audiences. Being young, talented, charismatic, good looking & British made David an even bigger prospect once Beatlemania broke out.  When David’s run with Oliver! came to an end in 1965, he was asked by David Merrick to join the cast of his production of Pickwick, alongside the venerable Harry Secombe. It was a temporary role, but played in Los Angeles and San Francisco which was exactly where Jones wanted to be. Once in Hollywood, he signed a contract with Ward Sylvester of Screen Gems (then the TV division of Columbia Pictures), which also included a recording contract on their label, Colpix. 1965 was a year of searching for the right vehicle for Jones. He had guest appearances in Ben Casey, The Farmer’s Daughter, and finally The Monkees project emerged. He had already released a solo album, entitled David Jones, with a single that entered the Hot 100 during the summer of that year. After meeting with Monkees’ producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, David was selected as the first choice for their ground-breaking television show about a struggling rock band. Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork were chosen to work well around Jones. They wanted four strong, unique characters to stand on their own, similar to The Beatles. David was introduced on The Monkees as Davy Jones, and it is that name that he is most identified with as an entertainer. The show debuted on September 12, 1966, ran two seasons, was nominated for three Emmy’s and won two. The Monkees and Davy Jones quickly became household names. As a recording act, they outsold The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined in 1967. Due to the success of their television show and record sales, the four members established themselves as a working band in order to tour. From 1966 to 1971, they toured the world, had three #1 singles (including Davy’s signature lead vocal performance on “Daydream Believer”), four #1 albums, a TV special & cutting-edge motion picture, Head, that has since become a cult classic. David, on his own and with the band, appeared on television shows such as Top of The Pops, The Hollywood Squares, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour & The Johnny Cash Show. The end of the group meant a whole new chapter in the life of Davy Jones.

In his personal life, David had married Linda Haines in 1968, and by 1971 they were the parents of two daughters, Talia & Sarah. During the run of The Monkees, Jones had kept his hand in many business ventures. He bought a couple of race horses and had his former trainer, Basil Foster, train them. The Davy Jones Presents record company released a number of singles, and a hip clothing store called “Zilch” was opened in Greenwich Village. Jones also opened a New York City-style enclosed street market for artists & artisans called “The Street” in Los Angeles.  

David wasted no time returning to the small screen after The Monkees disbanded. He teamed up with musical director Doug Trevor on a one-hour ABC television special entitled Pop Goes Davy Jones. He also appeared in many popular TV shows during the 1970’s such as Laugh-In, Love, American Style, The New Scooby Doo Movies and Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. His most memorable television appearance during this time was on an episode of The Brady Bunch where he sang his single, “Girl”. Jones signed with Bell Records in 1971 and released one album, entitled Davy Jones, along with several singles including “Girl” (the theme song for the Sandy Duncan film, Star Spangled Girl). Throughout the 1970’s, David released solo singles as well for MGM and Warner Brothers. His love for the theatre was never far from his heart, and in 1973 David travelled back to England for a six-month engagement in the Peter Nicholl’s play, Forget-Me-Not-Lane. Later that year he reprieved his role as The Artful Dodger alongside Ron Moody in a production of Oliver! that opened at the Music Center in Los Angeles. In 1975 David teamed up with Micky Dolenz and The Monkees’ song-writing duo, Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart to form Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart. The group performed to enthusiastic audiences all over North America, Japan, Singapore & Thailand. They released an album, a couple of singles, appeared on numerous television shows and starred in their own TV special. In 1976, Dolenz & Jones recorded a Christmas single with Peter Tork, entitled “Christmas Is My Time of Year”, produced by Chip Douglas.  After DJB&H parted ways, Micky and David continued performing together, acted in a stage production of Tom Sawyer, and eventually moved to England to star in Harry Nilsson’s play, The Point.  At the end of the decade, Jones formed his own band, Toast, and toured the U.S., Ireland & England. He also appeared on a couple of episodes of the British television series, Horse in the House and decided to stay in England.

The 1980’s started with a bang as Jones played sold out concerts in Japan to a whole new generation of Monkee fans. He also met and married his second wife, Anita Pollinger and they had two daughters, Jessica & Annabel.  David finally got his jockey’s license, and on September 19, 1980, rode his first race aboard Speed of Light at Newberry Race Track. He continued to be a regular on the charity sports circuit and was proud to have completed the London Marathon in three hours, forty minutes! There were starring roles in many “pantos” such as Cinderella, Dick Whittington & Puss in Boots, and appearances on television shows such as the popular B.B.C. children’s game show, Puzzle Trail. David’s theatre work included The Boyfriend and the role of Jesus in the West End production of Godspell. At the start of 1986, David & Peter Tork toured Australia in a show called The Sound of The Monkees. Micky Dolenz wasn’t able to join them due to prior commitments, but did agree to a summer tour of the United States. Between the two tours a funny thing happened – the MTV Monkees Marathon! Another wave of Monkeemania took off and the summer tour that was originally set to last 6 weeks turned into a three year affair that travelled around the world. Davy Jones was once again a hot teen idol and The Monkees were seen on nearly every television show imaginable. They released a new Monkees album, Pool It, along with 4 singles. David was involved in projects outside of The Monkees during this decade, such as writing his autobiography, They Made a Monkee Out of Me, and releasing solo singles in Japan, Britain & Australia. While on tour with The Monkees, David recorded a solo album entitled, Incredible.  Although at the time it was overshadowed by the immense success of the Monkees, this album has since been re-released and dubbed one of the great lost albums of the 1980’s. Jones made countless personal appearances in conjunction with the promotion of his book and appeared in two episodes of the hit television show, My Two Dads. The decade ended with The Monkees being awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and David starring in another production of Oliver!, only this time he played the part of Fagin. His children felt it was about time he started acting his age!

David’s calendar remained full during the 1990’s as he was in high demand for television appearances such as on the B.B.C. show Trainer, ABC Afterschool Special, Florence Henderson’s Country Kitchen, Nashville Now, Herman’s Head, The Single Guy & Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. He landed the role of Vince Fontaine in a stage production of Grease that co-starred Sally Struthers. David also reprised his role on The Brady Bunch in a stage version of the show. He co-wrote the award-winning book, Mutant Monkees Meet the Masters of the Multi-Media Manipulation Machine!, that featured the work of progressive computer graphic artists. In 1994 Jones once again toured with Dolenz for over a year.  1995 was a huge year that saw David & Micky reunite with Peter Tork in an episode of the television show, Boy Meets World, as well as in The Brady Bunch Movie and in a Pizza Hut commercial with Ringo Starr. Michael Nesmith joined his fellow Monkees for a presentation of their platinum and multi-platinum album awards at The Hard Rock Café in Los Angeles.  Soon plans for a Monkees 30th reunion were underway. In the next couple of years, there would be a documentary on the band produced by Disney, a television special produced by Nesmith that spoofed the original show, a new Monkees’ album entitled Justus that was completely written, played, sung & produced by the four members. An exclusive record release concert in Hollywood and subsequent tour of Britain was the first to include all four members since 1968. The North American leg of the tour didn’t include Nesmith, but that didn’t slow down the newest wave of Monkeemania.  David continued to record on his own and released a Christmas album, solo album and a four-volume CD compilation of demos, outtakes and other rare material from throughout his career, entitled Just for the Record. In 1998 he joined Peter Noone & Bobby Sherman for The Teen Idols Tour. Jones won the Speedway Children’s Charities Celebrity Classic Golf Tournament in 1999. Even with all these achievements, David always claimed that his proudest moment happened on February 1, 1996. It was on that day, at age 50, that David won his first horse race aboard Digpast, a horse owned by his daughter, Sarah. The one-mile Ontario Amateur Riders Handicap took place at Lingfield in Surrey.

The new century saw David as busy as ever.  He appeared on television shows such as 48 Hours, Hey Arnold, Meet the Royals, Living in TV Land and SpongeBob SquarePants. He had a cameo in Goldberg – P.I., sang the theme song for Sexina and was interviewed for countless television and radio programs as well as printed publications. He updated his autobiography and re-titled it Daydream Believin’. In 2001 David, Micky & Peter reunited for The Monkees’ 35th anniversary tour. The Monkeemania tour continued the following year without Peter. David was also busy recording his own music and released the album, Just Me in 2001. He also released a live album, a millennium mix version of “Daydream Believer”, a string of singles and his final album, a collection of standards, entitled She.  The Davy Jones Band had a full roster of shows during this time, including the yearly Flower Power Concert Series during Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival. In 2006 he recorded the single “Your Personal Penguin” which has since become a classic kid’s favorite. Written by children’s author & artist, Sandra Boynton, the song was a companion piece for a book of the same title. In 2008, Jones was named the number one teen idol of all time by Yahoo Music. David continued to act in “pantos”, taught motivational seminars, made a vast number of personal appearances and starred in a number of television commercials. He began training horses and had stables in Beavertown, Pennsylvania and Indiantown, Florida. Jones, the self-dubbed Manchester Cowboy, served as the commercial spokesman for Colonial Downs racetrack in Virginia. Personally, David welcomed three grandchildren into his life, Harrison “Harry” & Lauren “Lolo” McFadden and Phoenix Burrows. In 2009 he married actress-dancer Jessica Pacheco.  2011 marked The Monkees’ 45th anniversary and this brought David, Micky & Peter back together for another tour that boasted the best critical reviews of their career up to that point! Continued syndication of the show, DVD releases of the episodes and online viewing from sites such as YouTube created yet another new generation of fans. David was a loving father & grandfather who never stopped working, dreaming, and always remained accessible to his fans.  He passed away on February 29, 2012 after doing what he loved best – being aboard his favorite riding horse, Zar and surrounded by his beloved herd. Stories of the incredible generosity David Jones showed throughout his life paint a vivid picture of the man beyond the celebrity. The Manchester Cowboy touched many lives, brought immense joy to millions and created a legacy that will live forever – Ride On!