Favorite Blast From The Past:

Sam J. Jones
From:  Favorite Hunks & Other Things

 Sam J. Jones became a cult star for his role in Flash Gordon. He was known before that for a few acting roles (10 with Bo Derek) and his Playgirl pics (Under the name of Andrew). He went on to do some episodic TV like Code Red, but has not been seen much lately. It was recently announced he will play a role in the new version of Flash Gordon starring Eric Johnson.

Samuel Gerald Jones (born August 12, 1954) is an American actor, better known by his stage name Sam J. Jones. He has also been credited as Sam Jones. He is best known for playing the title character in the 1980 film Flash Gordon.

Jones was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Sacramento, California. He is a 1972 graduate of Mira Loma High School in Sacramento.

In 1975, prior to his first screen roles, Jones appeared as a nude centrefold for Playgirl magazine, under the name Andrew Cooper III.  He made his first film appearance opposite Bo Derek in the 1979 romantic comedy film 10.

His appearance in 10 allowed Jones to beat out actors such as Kurt Russell and Arnold Schwarzenegger to his most famous role to date, that of Flash Gordon in the 1980 film of the same name.  Jones dyed his hair blonde for this role. The film was not successful at the box office (except in the UK) and a planned trilogy was scrapped. After the release of Flash Gordon, Playgirl magazine reprinted his 1975 photo spread in their January 1981 issue, this time using his real name.

Jones went on to play Chris Rorchek in the TV series Code Red (1981–1982). He had guest roles in various other TV shows including The A-Team, Hunter, and Riptide. In 1987, he played the lead role in an adaptation of Will Eisner's comics character The Spirit. Additionally that year, he played the title character in the short-lived NBC sci-fi series The Highwayman.

Jones starred in several straight-to-video movies such as My Chauffeur, Silent Assassins, Driving Force, Jane and the Lost City, American Tigers, Fist of Honor, One Man Force, and White Force. In the 1990s, Jones took roles in films such as In Gold We Trust, Enter the Shootfighter, Baja Run, Maximum Force, Hard Vice and Dead Sexy.

In the 1990s, Jones has had guest roles on such TV shows as Baywatch and Diagnosis Murder.

In 2001, Jones was cast in the Animal Planet's family series Hollywood Safari as a park ranger. He appeared in "Deadman Switch", an episode of the television series Stargate SG-1. In 2007, he had a special guest role as the prisoner Krebb in the Sci Fi Channel original television series Flash Gordon.

Jones has now retired from acting, going into business with his wife Ramona. Their company, Inner Cordon Inc., specializes in corporate security.

Despite retiring from acting, Jones had an extended cameo (as himself, with his blond Flash Gordon hairstyle) in the 2012 film comedy, Ted.

 

Sam with the cast of Code Red