Henry Jones, Sr.
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Professor Henry Walton Jones Sr. is a fictional character in the ''
Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...
'' franchise. He is the British father of
Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...
and is a professor of
medieval studies Medieval studies is the academic interdisciplinary study of the Middle Ages. A historian who studies medieval studies is called a medievalist. Institutional development The term 'medieval studies' began to be adopted by academics in the opening ...
at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
. Alongside his academic teachings, Jones Sr. is an author of many books and a professional speaker on his historical subject at many conferences throughout the world. His relationship to his son in the franchise is noted as indifferent due to conflicts on their approaches to their situations, despite the fondness they share for history and archaeology. Much of his life was dedicated to research into the
Holy Grail The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenanc ...
of Christian legend.
Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...
portrays Dr. Jones in his debut in the 1989 film ''
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' is a 1989 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Jeffrey Boam, based on a story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes. It is the third installment in the Indiana Jone ...
'', while
Lloyd Owen Marcus Richard Lloyd Owen (born 14 April 1966) is a British actor. Despite being born in London, he considers himself Welsh due to both his parents being from Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part o ...
portrays him in ''
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'' (sometimes referred to as ''Young Indy'') is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. Filming took place in various locations around the world, with "Old Indy" ...
''. Alongside appearances in live-action media, the character has featured in ''Indiana Jones'' novels and comic books.


Characterization

The father of renowned
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...
, Henry was born in
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
(then in the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...
) on December 12, 1872. Having received his degree from the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
in 1893, he is a professor of
medieval literature Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (that is, the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of t ...
at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
– according to his son, "the one the students hope they don't get".''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' (1989) A driven man, Henry is fascinated by the search for the
Holy Grail The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenanc ...
, keeping all the clues he found regarding its whereabouts in his Grail diary. He is presumably a
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
(although his denomination is unclear), made evident by his intolerance of his son using
Jesus' Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the central figure of Christianity, the world's largest religi ...
name in vain, slapping the younger Henry across the face when he does so and telling him, "That's for blasphemy!" Seemingly finding parenting difficult, Henry Sr. mostly bonded with his son through their mutual fascination with history. After the death of his wife Anna from
influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...
in 1912, the gulf between father and son grew to the point where they rarely spoke. Henry claims this was a way of teaching his son "self-reliance", while Indiana felt that his father simply cared more about his intellectual pursuits than about his own son, saying: "What you taught me was that I was less important to you than some people who'd been dead for five hundred years in another country." When Henry explains that the search for the Grail is "a race against evil", Indy lashes out at him: "This is an ''obsession'', Dad! I ''never'' understood it! Never!" To Indiana's constant exasperation, Henry refers to his son only as "Junior" until the end of ''The Last Crusade,'' when he finally relents and calls him "Indiana" when he convinces him to let the Grail go. (Indiana later calls his own son "Junior".) Another factor which deteriorated Indiana and Henry's relationship was Indiana going off to enlist in the
Belgian Army The Land Component (, ), historically and commonly still referred to as the Belgian Army (, ), is the Land warfare, land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land ...
for
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
in 1916 without his father's consent, and the two went three years without seeing each other. Because of his father's aloofness, Indy embraced his father's friend
Marcus Brody This is a list of characters in the ''Indiana Jones'' series. Overview Family tree , - , style="text-align: left;", Notes: Introduced in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' Indiana Jones Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton ...
as a father figure and role model. His father's distant nature may have influenced Indiana's own reluctance to settle down and start a family. For much of Indiana's life, Henry disapproves of his son's frequent resort to violence, considering it unworthy of a scholar. When Indy guns down a pair of Nazis, Henry exclaims "Look what you did! I can't believe what you did!" However, during their motorcycle escape, he is impressed when his son defeats their Nazi pursuers using a flagpole like a jousting lance. Rather than physical confrontation, Henry prefers more elegant expedients, such as when he flaps his umbrella at a flock of seagulls, sending them into the engines of a pursuing Nazi fighter plane. When Indy punches a Nazi during the final tank battle, Henry shouts, "You call this archaeology?!" But at last, Henry blows up a truck full of Nazis to Brody's horror, explaining "It's war!" Henry suffers from a fear of rats, similar to his son's
fear of snakes Ophidiophobia (), or ophiophobia (), is fear of snakes. It is sometimes called by the more general term herpetophobia, fear of reptiles. The word comes from the Greek words "ophis" (), snake, and "phobia" () meaning fear. Research About one-th ...
, and apparently also from
acrophobia Acrophobia, also known as hypsophobia, is an extreme or irrational fear or phobia of heights, especially when one is not particularly high up. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort, that share similar ...
. He has a habit of saying "This is intolerable!" in particularly trying circumstances.


Appearances

In ''
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' is a 1989 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Jeffrey Boam, based on a story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes. It is the third installment in the Indiana Jone ...
'', set in 1938,
Walter Donovan This is a list of characters in the ''Indiana Jones'' series. Overview Family tree , - , style="text-align: left;", Notes: Introduced in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' Indiana Jones Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton ...
finds a tablet that provides new clues to the Grail's location, he hires Henry to lead an expedition to locate the artifact. While on the expedition, he discovers that his colleague
Elsa Schneider This is a list of characters in the ''Indiana Jones'' series. Overview Family tree , - , style="text-align: left;", Notes: Introduced in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' Indiana Jones Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton ...
(Henry's and later
Indy Indy may refer to: Computing and technology *Indy (software), used for Internet access to music *Internet Direct, or "Indy", a software library * SGI Indy, a computer workstation Periodicals *''The Indy'', shorthand for newspapers that include ...
's paramour) is working for the Nazis. Henry mails his Grail diary, with its many vital clues, to his son for safekeeping. Shortly afterwards, while carrying out research in a library in
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, he is captured by Nazi officials and interned in Brunwald Castle on the
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n border. He is rescued from the castle by his son, and they learn that Donovan is also working with the Nazis. Henry convinces Indiana that the Grail must not be taken by the Nazis and that they need to go to
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
to reclaim his Grail diary to complete the quest. During the course of the adventure, Marcus is captured and when Indiana goes to battle the Nazis, Henry tries to rescue Marcus himself. During the course of the battle, Henry blows up a truck full of Nazis, saving Indiana's life. Working together, Marcus and Henry manage to escape the tank they're trapped in. When Indy nearly falls to his death off a cliff after fighting Nazis on a tank, Henry is horrified when he thinks his son has died, and is greatly relieved when Indy reveals himself to be alive and well. Henry is shot by Donovan in the film's climax, but Indiana finds the Grail in time and uses it to heal his wounds. Henry returns the favor by rescuing Indiana from a rift (created when Elsa crosses a seal with the Grail), imploring his son to let the Grail go, even calling him by his nickname "Indiana" for the first time and implying that he cares more about Indiana than the Grail. Henry also reveals the true meaning behind Indy's nickname, it was the name of his dog. In ''
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'' (sometimes referred to as ''Young Indy'') is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. Filming took place in various locations around the world, with "Old Indy" ...
'', following the publication of a successful book on
chivalry Chivalry, or the chivalric language, is an informal and varying code of conduct that developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It is associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood, with knights being members of ...
in 1909, Jones is invited to speak at a number of schools and universities around the world. He took his wife and son along with him, hiring his former tutor, Helen Seymour (portrayed by
Margaret Tyzack Margaret Maud Tyzack (9 September 193125 June 2011) was an English actress. Her television roles included '' The Forsyte Saga'' (1967) '' I, Claudius'' (1976), and George Lucas's '' Young Indiana Jones'' (1992–1993). She won the 1970 BAFTA TV ...
) to tutor his son. In ''
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' is a 2008 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by David Koepp, based on a story by George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson. It is the fourth installm ...
'', Henry is hinted to have died prior to the events of the film. A framed photograph of him is seen on Indy's desk at one point in the film. Indy at one point mutters "This is intolerable" while escaping from the Soviets and, near the end of the movie, addresses Mutt as "Junior". In the
James Rollins James Paul Czajkowski (born August 20, 1961), better known by his pen name of James Rollins, is an American veterinarian and writer of action-adventure/ thriller, mystery, and techno-thriller novels who gave up his veterinary practice in Sacra ...
novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent ...
of the movie, it is said that Henry Jones Sr. had died roughly two years before, making his year of death between 1955 and 1956. However, in the
James Luceno James Luceno (born 1947) is an American author born in the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, known for his novels and reference books connected with the ''Star Wars'' franchise and the Star Wars Expanded Universe, ''Star Wars'' Expanded Uni ...
DK book, ''Indiana Jones the Ultimate Guide'', it lists his death as 1951. In the video game, '' Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings'', Henry is a playable character in a storyline specially created for co-op mode, which follows Henry Sr. and Henry Jr. as they travel to South America to prevent priceless artefacts from falling into the hands of the Germans. Henry Sr. and Henry Jr. make very brief unplayable cameos in the video game '' Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars''. Their appearance pays tribute to a scene from ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade''. Henry Sr. appears as a playable character in the
world-building Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world or setting, sometimes associated with a fictional universe. Developing the world with coherent qualities such as a history, geography, culture and ecology is a key task for many sci ...
video game ''
Disney Magic Kingdoms ''Disney Magic Kingdoms'' is a 2016 city-building game developed and published by Gameloft for iOS, Android, and Windows. It is themed off the Disney Parks. The game was officially launched on March 17, 2016. Gameplay and story The game ta ...
''. In ''
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ''Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'' is a 2023 American action-adventure film directed by James Mangold and written by Mangold, David Koepp, Jez Butterworth, Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. It is the fifth and final installment in Indiana_ ...
'', Henry is seen in a photograph in Indy's apartment. It is also revealed that he owned a watch that he passed down to Indy before his death.


Conception

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
chose to introduce Indiana's father in the third film, as he found the
Holy Grail The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenanc ...
to be an unspectacular
plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelief ...
. Spielberg felt that
Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...
was the obvious choice to play the role because
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
was an inspiration for Indiana.
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...
and
Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. Regarded as a cinematic cultural icon, he has starred in Harrison Ford filmography, many notable films over seven decades, and is one of List of highest-grossing actors, the highest-gr ...
were surprised by this choice because, as Ford explained in an interview, Connery (born in 1930), was only twelve years older than he was. Jones Sr., was first conceived as more bookish, but Connery enhanced the character to be more adventurous. In the scene where father and son were held captive by the Nazis, Indiana wanted to know how Jones Sr., knew Elsa Schneider was a Nazi. Connery "ad libbed" (
ad libitum In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The roughly synonymous phrase ('in acc ...
) the line, "She talks in her sleep," while filming. The first take could not be used because the crew could not contain their laughter or reactions as they found the remark to be extremely funny. Spielberg also included a reference to Bond when the bad guys were shooting at Jones Sr. with a
Walther PPK The Walther PP (, or police pistol) series pistols are blowback-operated semi-automatic pistols, developed by the German arms manufacturer Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen. Design The Walther PP series feature an exposed hammer, a double-action ...
, Bond's gun of choice. To prepare for the role in ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'',
Lloyd Owen Marcus Richard Lloyd Owen (born 14 April 1966) is a British actor. Despite being born in London, he considers himself Welsh due to both his parents being from Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part o ...
prepared by watching numerous Connery films and studied his accent. Owen shared the character's love of medieval history, having studied
Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
's ''
The Knight's Tale "The Knight's Tale" () is the first tale from Geoffrey Chaucer's '' The Canterbury Tales''. The Knight is described by Chaucer in the " General Prologue" as the person of highest social standing amongst the pilgrims, though his manners and c ...
''. Owen considered the character "a good father. I think that's obvious by the way Indy has turned out. He even said in the film that he's not the kind of father that says, 'Eat your food, go to bed, brush your teeth!' He's not that kind of guy at all. He's a very liberal parent for the 1900s." Connery turned down a
cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
in ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' (2008), as he was enjoying retirement too much, and because "it was not that generous a part, worth getting back into the harness and go for". In a statement, he provided one last piece of advice for "Junior" – keep the cliffs low, the monsters CGI and the whip close at hand to fend off the stunt coordinator.
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...
said in hindsight that it was good Connery did not appear, as it would disappoint the audience when his character did not join the film's adventure. Ford joked, "I'm old enough to play my own father."


Reception

Sean Connery received
Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...
and
BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
nominations for his performance. Horizon released a
vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
model kit of Henry in 1993, which the buyer could assemble. The Japanese company Kotobukiya released a vinyl kit in 2008. That same year,
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...
released a 3 ¾-inch action figure that comes with his suitcase, umbrella and the
Holy Grail The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenanc ...
; a die-cast model of him and Indiana in the motorcycle; and a Mighty Mugg (caricature) toy.
Lego Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...
also made a Henry figure for its playset based on the motorcycle chase and the airplane fight. ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine included Jones Sr. on their "Top 10 Movie Dads We’d Use To Build the Perfect Father", citing how he comes back into Indiana's life to help him search for the legendary Holy Grail, and his "detachment" as the "parenting trait they admire".


Notes


References


Sources

*


External links


Henry Jones, Sr.
on
IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

The Grail Diary
at
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Henry Sr. Fictional archaeologists Fictional historians Fictional immigrants to the United States British male characters in film Scottish male characters in television Fictional British people Film characters introduced in 1989 Indiana Jones characters Characters created by George Lucas