May 13, 2020

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: BUSTER JONES

 

BUSTER JONES


(December 12, 1943-September 12, 2014)

 

Notable Roles: Black Vulcan, Spaghetti Man/Twiggy Sander, Blaster, Doc, Zap, Winston Zeddemore, Lothar

 

Born Edward Jones, he began his career playing music with various bands around the world before ending up in Washington, DC as a DJ. In 1972, he shifted into a career on camera with a role in the film The Marshal of Windy Hollow. In 1973, he was recruited by Dick Clark to host the short-lived spin-off to American Bandstand called Soul Unlimited, which was designed to compete with Soul Train by appealing to that program’s audience. In 1977, after a stint doing voiceover for commercials, Jones’ agency sent him out for an interview and he landed the role of Hanna-Barbera’s original character, Black Vulcan, in the Super Friends franchise. Hanna-Barbera later tagged him as the voice of Harlem Globetrotter Twiggy Sanders in the series The Super Globetrotters. In 1981, he began a long association with Marvel Productions, Sunbow Productions and Hasbro when he lent his voice to the syndicated Spider-Man, then went on to have multiple roles in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Transformers and Jem. Jones’ biggest role, however, came in 1988 when he replaced Arsenio Hall as the voice of Winston Zeddemore in The Real Ghostbusters; which he would reprise in two episodes of the follow-up, Extreme Ghostbusters. After a few more minor roles in the likes of Batman: The Animated Series and The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat, Jones largely disappeared from the spotlight after 1998 as job offers dried up; getting mostly music gigs and starting up his own record company, Buster Jones Records. He died at his home in North Hollywood in 2014 at the age of 70.

 

Saturday Credits:

Soul Unlimited
The All-New Super Friends Hour
Challenge of the Superfriends
The Super Globetrotters
Spider-Man (1981)
Shirt Tales
Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show
The Flintstone Kids
Jem
The Real Ghostbusters
The Karate Kid (1989)
Batman: The Animated Series
The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat
The New Batman Adventures

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