Edgar Allan “Ted” Jones Jr. passed away on May 10 in Santa Monica, following a short illness. He was 92.
The longtime Pacific Palisades resident taught for 40 years at UCLA Law School, played the Judge on ABC’s “Day in Court” and “Traffic Court” for six years, and presided in more than 1,200 cases as a labor arbitrator.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, to the late Edgar and Isabel Jones on January 8, 1921, Ted grew up in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and attended Asbury Park High School and Wesleyan College, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Wesleyan Argus and graduated in 1941. World War II soon broke out, interrupting what would have been his path and calling in journalism. He immediately enlisted and served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps in the Third Marine Wing stationed in Cherry Point, North Carolina. In his deployment physical to the Pacific theater he was diagnosed with bilateral pulmonary tuberculosis and was treated during several years in Army and Navy hospitals until his discharge in August 1945.
Just weeks later, on September 15, Ted married his childhood sweetheart Helen Callaghan, a nurse in Kingston, Ontario, in nearby Read. They moved to Charlottesville so that he could attend the University of Virginia Law School on the G.I. bill, where they started their family and where he created and was the founding editor of the Virginia Law Weekly in 1948.
Following graduation, Ted joined the faculty of the new law school at UCLA in 1951 where he taught torts, labor law and labor arbitration and published articles in the law reviews of the Universities of Virginia, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Texas and UCLA until his retirement in 1991.
Between 1953-2012 he served as a labor arbitrator and issued over 1,200 arbitral awards in various industries and for hospitals, educational institutions and federal, state and local governments. He joined the National Academy of Arbitrators in 1960 (serving as its president in 1980) and was the founding editor of the Academy’s “Chronicle” newsletter.
Between 1958 and 1964, “Professor” Jones played the role of “Judge” Jones in over 2,000 network productions for ABC’s “Day in Court,” “Traffic Court” and “Accused.”
“Day in Court” was initially the highest-rated live television show and then the number-one daytime program for six years, with a weekly total of 20 million viewers. In 1964, when “General Hospital” pulled ahead of “Day in Court” and the network wanted to turn the program into a soap opera, Judge Jones stepped down. Then-UPI columnist Rick Du Brow wrote: “‘Day in Court’ and television have lost a remarkable performer in Jones. There was no better ad libber in the television medium—and it was necessary, for the program’s authenticity, that he be accomplished in this skill. For it was Jones’ belief that though the shows and cases were thoroughly research by top law students, tones and innuendos could give different impressions and lead to different conclusions when acted out—and to react naturally and with legal logic, he would often ad lib, even decisions, requiring sharp reactions from his casts.”
Jones was a devout Catholic along with his wife Helen. He engaged throughout his life in intellectual and spiritual inquiry and made friends with theologian Hans Kung, Cardinal Peter Poreku Dery Tamale of Ghana, and Father Vincent Martin of Saint Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, California, among others.
Ted was also a creative force who loved classical music, produced mosaic art and wrote two novels, “Mr. Arbitrator” and “Break a Leg, Professor,” drawing upon and based loosely on his own life story.
He loved to play golf and baseball, often with teams drawn from his children and grandchildren and neighbors. He was also a season ticket holder for UCLA football and basketball games for over 50 years.
Ted is survived by his loving wife, Helen, with whom he shared 68 years of marriage, and by their 11 children, 23 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A funeral mass will be held on Friday, May 17, at 10 a.m. at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 880 Toyopa Dr., followed immediately by a reception.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Andrew’s Abbey Monks of Valyermo ministry, Development Office, P.O. Box 40, Valyermo, CA 93563. Visit www.saintandrewsabbey.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=115.
Arrangements provided by Gates, Kingsley & Gates Moeller Murphy Funeral Directors in Santa Monica.
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