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History of Sam J Jones · Fjaftermidnight

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to FJ After Midnight. Guys. I'm your HOSTFJ After Midnight,
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  Speaker 1: bringing you deep stories from the lives of fascinating people.
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  Speaker 1: After Hours. Tonight, we're gonna be shining the spotlight on
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  Speaker 1: the man who brought one of sci fi's most iconic
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  Speaker 1: characters to life, the actor, former Maureene and all around
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  Speaker 1: Screen presents Sam J. Jones from humble beginnings to coldcott
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  Speaker 1: startles and will trace his journey, his struggles, his triumphs,
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  Speaker 1: and what he's doing today. So crank up the lights,
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  Speaker 1: Lean and Electoral Segment one. Early life and background. Sam J.
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  Speaker 1: Jones was born October or October I'm kidding August twelfth,
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  Speaker 1: nineteen fifty four, in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in Sacramento, California,
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  Speaker 1: where he attended Miroslamo High School. After high school, he
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  Speaker 1: enlisted in the United States Marine Corps from nineteen seventy
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  Speaker 1: two to nineteen seventy four. It was a formad of time, discipline,
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  Speaker 1: physical training structures, all parts of the marine life help shape.
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  Speaker 1: Following his service, he tried to pursue professional football American
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  Speaker 1: moving to Seattle with ambition to join the Seahawks. Practice squad.
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  Speaker 1: He also did modeling and commercials in the late nineteen seventies.
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  Speaker 1: For example, he posted for Playgirl magazine under the alliance
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  Speaker 1: Andrew Cooper the board. So there you have this tall, athlete,
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  Speaker 1: disciplined young man navigated life in the late seventies, trying
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  Speaker 1: to carve out a career, and we're gonna take a
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  Speaker 1: ad breaker Segment two arrival in Hollywood breakthrough. Jones force
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  Speaker 1: film role came in in the nineteen seventy nine Blake
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  Speaker 1: Edwards comedy starring Dudley Moore and Bo Derek, but it
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  Speaker 1: was the next year, nineteen eighty, that everything changed. In
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  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty Sam J. Jones when the title role in
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  Speaker 1: the cult classics sci fi film Flash Gordon. He became
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  Speaker 1: the face of the Flash, the hero who saved Earth
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  Speaker 1: from mean the morcal sense. Let's pause here to reflect
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  Speaker 1: a former marine ex athlete model stepping into a large,
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  Speaker 1: thin life world of space opera, space opera tourism. The
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  Speaker 1: specific effect of the early eighties were bold, the look
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  Speaker 1: camping the soundtrack by Queen was legendary, and the part
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  Speaker 1: required if physion presents cheering in a certain fearless energy.
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  Speaker 1: Jones later knowledged the film's impact on his career. For many,
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  Speaker 1: Flash Gordon is Sam J. Jones. By embracing the role,
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  Speaker 1: he entered a realm of phantom sci fi conventions and
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  Speaker 1: John history. After Flash Gordon, Jones continued working steadily with
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  Speaker 1: television and film roles. He stored in short live TV
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  Speaker 1: series The Highwaymen nineteen eighty seven eighty eight, nineteen eighty
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  Speaker 1: seven through eighty eight, of Course, among other credits. An
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  Speaker 1: interesting note is his path that Flash Gordon wasn't pre preordained.
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  Speaker 1: He didn't grew up with the role in mind, and
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  Speaker 1: he did didn't necessarily come from a typical acting pedigree.
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  Speaker 1: His background was ethel letic, physical, and he were messed
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  Speaker 1: that screenworking also working noticed the shift from maren and
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  Speaker 1: model actor is a non traditional route. It speaks to flexibility,
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  Speaker 1: the audation of his journey Segment three career highlight, challenges
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  Speaker 1: and invention post Flash. Sam J. Jones career in the
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  Speaker 1: typical ups and down that many genre actors face. He
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  Speaker 1: worked in television, film commercials. Some projects were high profile,
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  Speaker 1: others less so. For example, he made a cameo parents
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  Speaker 1: playing a version of himself in the comedy Ted twenty
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  Speaker 1: twelve and its sequel ted to two twenty fifteen. I've
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  Speaker 1: seen both of those movies. Pretty funny. This kind of
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  Speaker 1: self performances show his ability to lean into his legacy.
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  Speaker 1: He also built a loyal fan base, a comic genre convention,
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  Speaker 1: leveraging the Flash Gordon legacy and his ongoing screenwork. But
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  Speaker 1: as any actor knows, log event demand drew revention. For Jones,
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  Speaker 1: that means taking roles, doing appearances, being open to involve
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  Speaker 1: media landscape. He didn't just stress on the glory of
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  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty. He moved forward. It's worth noting the transition
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  Speaker 1: from big screen hero to steady working actor is really smooth.
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  Speaker 1: Type casting, fan expectations, shifting film industry trends all play
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  Speaker 1: a part. Jones path illustration, the preference, let's positive reflect
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  Speaker 1: on a t themed legacy versus living in the presence.
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  Speaker 1: Sam is defined in many minds by Flash Gordon a
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  Speaker 1: role in his book he took on, A role he
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  Speaker 1: took early on, not a book a role he took
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  Speaker 1: early on. Okay, but he also had to continue living
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  Speaker 1: his life, making his choice. Evolving The tensions is one
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  Speaker 1: we see often in acting. Who's big early We're gonna
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  Speaker 1: say guy right. Segment four. Personal life, character and legacy
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  Speaker 1: Beyond the screen. Sam J. Jones has an interesting personal story.
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  Speaker 1: He's been married multiple times to lend Eric nineteen eighty
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  Speaker 1: two to eighty seven, Mortal Blacksman the nineteen eighty seven,
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  Speaker 1: and then and then to Ramalynn Jones from nineteen ninety
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  Speaker 1: two forward with three children. Also, his Marine Corps served
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  Speaker 1: in a big part of his identity. In interviews, he
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  Speaker 1: reflects on discipline, preparation, teamwork. It helps shape how he
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  Speaker 1: approached acting in public life. In terms of legacy, the
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  Speaker 1: cult status of Flash Gordon means that his role remains
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  Speaker 1: part of a pop culture for many fans. Seeing him
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  Speaker 1: at a convention is seeing a piece of nineteen eighty
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  Speaker 1: sci fi nostalgic comes to life. Orwick Davis once described
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  Speaker 1: genre convention as where the audience became family. Similar Jones
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  Speaker 1: fan relations has become a key part of his ongoing career.
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  Speaker 1: When we think about legacy, there are a few dimensions.
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  Speaker 1: The body of the work, the influence on others, the
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  Speaker 1: connection to fans, and the personal is the sense Sam
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  Speaker 1: covers all for a here on screen, vetteran off screen
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  Speaker 1: and still active. Segment five, current day and final thoughts.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, I am going to add a couple more
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  Speaker 1: segments because I don't want this episode to be too
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  Speaker 1: short here, all right, So we are going to get
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  Speaker 1: to seventy segment five soon, but before we do, there
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  Speaker 1: is a couple of things I want to add here
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  Speaker 1: that I've been doing my research on my podcast work.
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  Speaker 1: So we are going to need to get to that
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  Speaker 1: right now. There's a lot. Sorry, I got a lot anyway, Okay,
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  Speaker 1: here we go. Recited by Sam Jones at age five
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  Speaker 1: and one room schoolhouse in Oakland Bowie, Alabama, Sam's birthplace
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  Speaker 1: compared to the fame Evigolis Bill Graham. Sam Humley became
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  Speaker 1: and as a Methodist circuit ride and was soon promoted
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  Speaker 1: as an evagionalist to the North Georgia Orphanage in eighteen eighty.
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  Speaker 1: By eighteen eighty five, is a villagis worked in support
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  Speaker 1: of the orphan age, brought him to the attention of
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  Speaker 1: the Nation press with citywide revival in Nashville, Tennessee. While
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  Speaker 1: in Nashville, Sam covered Tom Raymond to Christianity, who sub
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  Speaker 1: well built the Rayman Auditorium, home of the Grand Old opry,
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  Speaker 1: especially to host Sam Jones. Famous sum one of Sam
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  Speaker 1: and Jones sort of packed the music hall with one
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  Speaker 1: thousand or ten thousand spectators while forty thousand filled the
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  Speaker 1: street outside. We are going to get to that in
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  Speaker 1: more of a of We're gonna get to the heroes
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  Speaker 1: on the museum, the history of that in another episode.
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  Speaker 1: But we're still doing Sam Jones here. Just let y'
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  Speaker 1: all know. So that is good, right, Uh sorry, there
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  Speaker 1: is a lot of history and so I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: take an ad break here. We will be right back.
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  Speaker 1: So hold on, all right, guys, we are back. Sorry
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  Speaker 1: about it. There was a little bit more information on him,
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  Speaker 1: Sam Jones, but we are going to do that in
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  Speaker 1: another episode about the history of rosn and all that.
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  Speaker 1: But anyway, we're gonna get to segment five here our
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  Speaker 1: current day and final thoughts. Where's Sam Now? He continued
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  Speaker 1: to appear at conventions, making a guest spot embrace his
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  Speaker 1: legacy while still working. Though the mainstream blockbuster era of
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  Speaker 1: his peak may have passed. The long jevity of is
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  Speaker 1: real for our listeners. There's something to be lorned here.
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  Speaker 1: The journey of Sam j Jones reminds us that success
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  Speaker 1: might come early, but sustaining my life of meaning takes adaptation, persistence,
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  Speaker 1: in connection. So thank you for listening to f JA
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  Speaker 1: after Midnight. If you enjoyed this deep dive into Sam
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  Speaker 1: J Jones, share it with a friend, Subscribe and let
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  Speaker 1: us know how you like us to cover next. I'm
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  Speaker 1: your host FJ after Midnight, and I'll see you after midnight.
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  Speaker 1: Remember I followed me after midnight Underscroll on social media
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: and FJAY after Midnight on Spotify and all there's other platforms.
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  Speaker 1: I know it's been that short episode. I was trying
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  Speaker 1: to make it forty minutes here today, but this this
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  Speaker 1: is gonna be my short episode. I just want to
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  Speaker 1: cover one topic, per se. I don't want to get
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  Speaker 1: too crazy with it, so we're just gonna do one topic.
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  Speaker 1: Can keep it a short episode well, and in the
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  Speaker 1: next episode, I'll see you alright. Bye, have a good
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  Speaker 1: after afternoon. M