O-Lan Jones (born May 23, 1950) is an American actress, composer, and theater producer. She played religious fanatic Esmeralda in ''

Edward Scissorhands ''Edward Scissorhands'' is a 1990 American fantasy romance film directed by Tim Burton. It was produced by Burton and Denise Di Novi, written by Caroline Thompson from a story by her and Burton, and starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Anthony Mi ...

''.

Early and personal life

Jones was born in Los Angeles, California. Her first name comes from the Chinese heroine of the novel ''

The Good Earth ''The Good Earth'' is a historical fiction novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 that dramatizes family life in a Chinese village in the early 20th century. It is the first book in her ''House of Earth'' trilogy, continued in ''Sons'' (1932) ...

'' by

Pearl S. Buck Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973) was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for ''The Good Earth'' a bestselling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, Pulitze ...

. Her father left the family when she was a child. Her mother Scarlett Johnson, a self-described "free spirit", moved their family for a year to a remote

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

village in the

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the political divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. I ...

jungle when Jones was 15. In 1966 they moved to

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, New York City, where Jones began her acting career. It was there that Johnson married comedian and actor Johnny Dark, while Jones was dating Dark's best friend, playwright

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...

. Shepard wrote the role of "Oolan" for Jones in his 1967 play ''Forensic & The Navigators''. In 1969, Jones and Shepard were married. She went on to star in a number of his plays, including '' Suicide in B♭'' and '' Angel City''. Jones gave birth to their son Jesse Mojo Shepard in 1971. They divorced in 1984 when he left her for actress

Jessica Lange Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. She is the 13th actress to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having won two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, along with a Screen Actors G ...

. Jones is an alumna of

New Dramatists New Dramatists is an organization of playwrights founded in 1949 and located at 424 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen (Clinton) neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The members of New Dramatists parti ...

. In addition to her acting, she is a writer, musician, composer and lyricist. She is the artistic director of ''Overtone Industries'', a company she founded in 1980 dedicated to creating and developing new works for opera and musical theater. In 2003 she married her longtime boyfriend Haldor Enard.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, O-Lan 1950 births Living people Actresses from Los Angeles American film actresses American television actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses