Davy was born December 30, 1945, in Manchester, England. His full name is David Thomas Jones. His parents are Harry and Doris Jones, who had three other children, Hazel, Beryl and Linda, who were all older than Davy. They were raised in a small house on Leamington Street, Higher Openshaw, in Manchester. This was the poorer section of Manchester and the Jones’ were no exception. They had no indoor bathroom and had to wash in the kitchen sink! His father earned about ten pounds a week working for British rail.
Davy always liked singing and performing. He was involved in his school’s pantomime and from there began to take a few auditions. He won a few small parts and was told he should try to become a professional actor. Davy, although he enjoyed acting, wanted something else. He wanted to be a jockey! He loved horses. It was after his mother passed away, when he was fourteen, that he began to follow this dream. He left school, and through a few connections was able to obtain an apprentice with Basil Foster, a well-known trainer. He earned twenty-five shillings a week.
During this time Davy had not lost his love for the theatre. He performed when he could. It was at one of these performances that he was discovered by a BBC radio writer. A producer later contacted his father and asked if Davy could be in a few radio plays. Harry Jones agreed, although Davy was not extremely thrilled about leaving the stables. He did the plays and was asked to go on the show, Coronation Street. He had a lot of talent and this was realized by many. He landed a part as Michael, in Peter Pan. He was also offered a role in Oliver!, as the Artful Dodger, which he accepted. After almost a year, he was asked to take his role to Broadway. He reluctantly agreed. He was now at the age of fifteen. Davy was quite a success. He was nominated for a Tony award and grabbed the attention of many theatre-goers. By the time he was seventeen he had been featured on the cover of 16 Magazine and had gained a following of young girls.
On perhaps the most famous episode of the “Ed Sullivan Show” Davy appeared to sing a song from Oliver! This of course was February 9, 1964, the day the Beatles performed on the show. At the end of 1964, Davy was asked to join the cast of “Pickwick”, for three months. At the opening of the show, executives from Screen Gems-Columbia came to watch Davy. After the show they offered him a recording contract with Colpix. It was then that Davy began to record his debut album entitled, “David Jones”. He also appeared in an episode of “Ben Casey”. He auditioned for several other roles in new television series, but just wasn’t right for any of them.
He went back to Manchester and waited. After many months his American agent called him and told him to come back to America. He landed a role in “The Farmer’s Daughter”. He also picked up recording his not yet completed debut album. The album was made up of many British songs and a few rockers. (I think it’s wonderful!) By now Davy had his own fan club with thousands of members. Screen Gems was looking for a show for him to star in. Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson were making plans for a new series called “The Monkees”. Davy was already under contract by the company and was auditioned. After several experimental auditions and screen tests, he was chosen along with Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith.
After the second time the pilot they filmed was submitted, it was picked up for the 1966 fall season. Davy was to sing many of the songs the show would feature. During the Monkees he was on the cover of almost every teen magazine and clubs sprang up all over for him. Davy Jones was a household name. He was known for being the "cute" teen idol of the group (although they all were!). He was given the more romantic roles in the show, though. In real life, he dated Sally Field, Lynne Randell, Lulu and Dean Martin’s daughter Deana. But Davy married Linda Haines. He had met her at the Monkees’ first live concert in Hawaii, on December 3, 1966.
Linda and Davy had two daughters, Talia Elizabeth Jones born 10/2/68 and Sarah Lee Jones born 7/3/71. After the Monkees he began some solo projects, but almost all interest in Davy had gone from the general public. He released a second solo album entitled “Davy Jones”. It wasn’t a great success although a couple of songs charted. (I love it!) He appeared on a few television shows in guest spots, such as the Brady Bunch and Love American Style. In 1975 and 1976, Davy toured the USA with Micky, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart as Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart. Mike and Peter weren’t interested at the time, so Tommy and Bobby filled in to make it a quartet. They enjoyed a mild success at amusement parks and such. They released a few singles too.
Tommy and Bobby eventually quit. Peter joined up with Micky and Davy to record a single, Christmas Is my Time of Year. Micky and Davy worked together in a few shows and plays. Davy accidentally ran into Harry Nilsson, in 1978, and he offered Davy a role in “The Point”, a British stage production. Davy insisted Micky be given a role too. It was very successful and a soundtrack was made.
It was shortly after the Point ended that Davy divorced Linda. He married Anita Pollinger in 1982, and had a third daughter, Jessica Lillian Jones born 9/4/84. During this time Davy was still releasing singles in Japan, where it seemed the Monkees was still a hit. He released his third solo album called “Davy Hello”. He returned to England and appeared in several small roles on TV.
In 1986, Monkeemania was sparked by MTV airing all 58 Monkees episodes in a row in a weekend called “Pleasant Valley Sunday”. It was the twentieth anniversary of the Monkees and Davy agreed to join Peter and Micky in a tour. They also went back into the recording studio to record Pool it! Which contained all new material. The Monkees enjoyed a great success with the 1986 tour as seven of their original albums re-charted. Mike was able to join them in a couple shows, but his own production company and obligations limited his activity in the tour. Rhino Records began to re-release all of their original albums on CD as well as songs that had not previously been released.
In 1996, all four Monkees went into the studio to record “JUSTUS”. It was written, produced, played and performed by the Monkees with virtually no outside help. A thirtieth anniversary tour kicked off. All of the Monkees were back to being single by then. Mike couldn’t join the others in the tour because he was writing (hopefully still is) the script for a new Monkees movie. Now that the tour has ended, Davy has joined Peter Noone and Bobby Sherman, in a “Teen Idols Tour” that will begin this Spring! Davy has also kept busy by appearing in guest spots on shows like “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”.
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