Jones was born in Beaumont, Texas, the son of Jessie Paralee (née Stephens) and Justus Ellis McQueen Sr., a railroad worker. After serving in the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946, Jones attended Lamar Junior College and then studied law at the University of Texas at Austin from 1950 to 1951. He worked as a stand-up comic, briefly played professional baseball and football, and even tried ranching in Nicaragua before turning to acting after corresponding with his former college roommate, Fess Parker. At the time, in 1954, Parker was already in Hollywood working in films and on television. Jones is a practicing Methodist and a registered Republican.
Jones was frequently cast alongside his close friend Strother Martin, most memorably as the posse member and bounty hunter "T. C." in The Wild Bunch. Jones also appeared as recurring characters on such western series as Cheyenne (1955), Gunsmoke (1955), Laramie, Two Faces West (1960–1961), and as ranch hand Andy Belden in The Virginian (1962). He was cast in the military drama series Men of Annapolis, on the CBS western Johnny Ringo, and on the NBC western Jefferson Drum. He made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of con Artist and murder victim Charles B. Barnaby in the 1958 episode "The Case of the Lonely Heiress." He also appeared in an episode of The A-Team titled "Cowboy George" and two episodes of The Fall Guy as Sheriff Dwight Leclerc.
Jones directed, was the executive Producer, and adapted the screenplay for A Boy and His Dog (1975). Other films include Men in War (1957), The Naked and the Dead (1958), Flaming Star (1960), Cimarron (1960), Hell Is for Heroes (1962), Hang 'Em High (1968), Stay Away, Joe (1968), The Brotherhood of Satan (1971), which he co-produced and wrote, Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975) Lone Wolf McQuade (1983), Casino (1995), The Edge (1997) The Mask of Zorro (1998), and A Prairie Home Companion (2006).
