Doug Jones is 66 years old today. He was born on 24 May 1960.

He is a great actor. But it is probably better to think of him as a mime. Over the years, I’ve come to really appreciate it as an art form. And he is as good as it gets. Most actors can’t do so much without speaking.

At this point, most people know him for playing The Baron in What We Do in the Shadows. He uses a ridiculous eastern European accent for the part. But it is more defined by the queenish mannerisms that Jones provides.

But psychotronic fans know Doug Jones for his creature roles. He works a lot with Guillermo del Toro. In fact, I tend to think he would have played the creature in Frankenstein if it had been made a couple of decades earlier. But he most notably played the faun in Pan’s Labyrinth. I had no idea who Doug Jones was when I first saw it. But it features Jones’ distinct style of mime and it’s hard to miss.

Jones also played the unrewarding role of the amphibious man in Hellboy and its sequel. And he gets to play a couple of lady ghosts in Crimson Peak.

Primarily, he is cast in unusual roles like Robert North in John Dies at the End and Walter Lambert in Absentia. He is brilliant in these roles. And they explain why he works so much. But it also explains why he isn’t exactly a star and why he has led few films.

But he has starred is some. Of note are The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, Love in the Time of Monsters, and Gehenna: Where Death Lives.

So let’s celebrate Doug Jones’ birthday by watching him as Cesare in Dr Caligari.

Other 24 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers:

• Tommy Chong (1938-): Star of the Cheech & Chong movies as well as Evil Bong.
• Jim Broadbent (1949-): Actor known for Gangs of New York, Hot Fuzz, and more.
• Sybil Danning (1950-): Actor known for God’s Gun and Battle Beyond the Stars.
• Bill Thornbury (1952-): Actor known for Jody in Phantasm.
• Nell Campbell (1953-): “Little Nell” who appeared in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Shock Treatment.
• Alfred Molina (1953-): Actor in films like Species and Spider-Man 2.
• John C Reilly (1965-): Actor known for very silly comedies but also very good in Boogie Nights and Perfect Storm.

Films:

• A Witch of Salem Town (1915): Silent short about the famous witch trials. The film is now lost.
• Valley of the Zombies (1946): Old style zombies and a mad scientist.
• The Possession of Joel Delaney (1972): A woman thinks her brother is possessed by a serial killer.
• Madhouse (1974): An actor goes insane after his wife is murdered via decapitation. Out of the hospital, people start dying again.
• A View to Kill (1985): Roger Moore Bond.
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989): Indy is joined by his father.
• Thelma & Louise (1991): Feminist road picture.
• Tales From the Hood (1995): A fun antology horror focused on urban Blacks.
• Mission: Impossible II (2000): Better and even more absurd than the first one.
• Insomnia (2002): Detective searches for a murderer in Alaska.
• Killer School Girls From Outer Space (2011): More or less Killer Klowns From Outer Space but with uniformed school girls.

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Image cropped from Doug Jones by Judson University under CC BY 2.0.