Jim Gigliotti - Who Was Chuck Jones?

When Chuck Jones was a youngster, he loved stories. Chuck grew up before most people had radios and before television existed. But he enjoyed reading interesting books. He delighted in hearing the fantastic tales his relatives told. And he liked watching people act out funny performances onstage and in the movies.

Chuck was born Charles Martin Jones in Spokane, Washington, on September 21, 1912. His fathers name also was Charles. His mothers name was Mabel. His oldest sister, Margaret, was born in 1908. Another sister, Dorothy, was born in 1910. Chucks father worked at many different jobs. When he first met Mabel in 1906, he worked for a railroad company. That company sent him to Panama for a while to help work on the Panama Canal. Margaret and Dorothy were born in Panama, but the family moved back to the United Statesto Spokane, Washington shortly before Chuck was born. The family moved to southern California in 1913, when Chuck was about six months old. Chucks younger brother, Richard, was born two years later.

Chucks father wanted to open and run his own business. He had many different ideas about how to get started. Unfortunately, none of his businesses were very successful. He tried buying and selling land, growing flowers, even selling avocados, but nothing seemed to work out quite right.

Every time Chucks father started a new business, he ordered nice pencils and good paper on which he printed the name of his company. And every time the new company failed, he had stacks of paper and boxes of pencils left over. Since they all had the company name on them, they were no longer of any use to Mr. Jones. He always gave the paper and the pencils to his children. Chuck and his siblings usually had the best paper and the most pencils of any kids in their neighborhood. And they put it all to good use! Chuck drew at least twenty pictures every day for as long as he could remember. He was getting good at it, too. Chucks talent began to show at a very early age, his brother later said.

Mabel encouraged her children to draw. She would never criticize their drawings, but she never praised them unless she really meant it, either. Instead, she just let them have fun with their artwork. It was a happy experience to draw for the joy of drawing, Chuck said.

The Jones family moved several times throughout southern California. They lived in and around the Hollywood area and sometimes out by the beach. Wherever the family moved, Chucks father made sure that they rented a house that came with furniture and books already in place. And not just any books, Chuck said, but good books. To Chucks father, that meant books by famous authors such as Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and O. Henry. Mr. Jones thought that reading was very important. In fact, conversation was not permitted at breakfastonly reading was allowed. If one of the Jones children forgot to bring a book to the table, he or she could read the cereal box! So Chuck learned to read by the time he was three years old. As he grew, he went through all the good books in all their different houses, and the not-so-good ones, too.

When Chuck wasnt reading, he listened to his uncle Lynn tell stories. Uncle Lynn told some pretty crazy tales. Sometimes they were just silly, like one about a zebra whose stripes had slipped off his back. At other times, the stories helped the kids feel better. When Teddy, the Jones family dog, died, Uncle Lynn said that the dog had called him to say he was okay. Uncle Lynn wasnt entirely sure where Teddy was calling from, but he thought it might have been from Dog Heaven.

On some weekends, Chuck and Richard would visit Uncle Kent, who sold cars in downtown Los Angeles. Uncle Kent always gave the boys money to see a live vaudeville show. Vaudeville had many different performers onstage, one after another. The first might be an acrobat, and the next a singer. Chuck liked the comedians best. He always enjoyed their funny skits and jokes.

Chuck learned a lot about comedy from watching the vaudeville acts. And he learned from watching silent movies, too. When Chuck was about six years old, his family moved to a house on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. The house was only a couple of blocks away from where movie star Charlie Chaplin built his own studio in 1918. Chuck sometimes sat outside and saw famous stars such as Chaplin or Mary Pickford or Lloyd Hamiltonthe greatest stars of the silent moviesgoing to or from work. This was almost a decade before talking picturesmovies with soundwere invented.