He was known as the cute one, a teen idol who would become the most popular of the pre-fab four. Davy came into this world as David Thomas Jones on December 30, 1945 in Manchester, England. He was the youngest child and only son of four to Harold and Doris Jones. Davy's family lived in the poorest section in Manchester in an apartment. In fact they were so poor that there was no bathroom and they had to bathe using the kitchen sink. His father worked as an engineer for the British rail to support Davy, his mother and three sisters Hazel, Beryl and Lynda making only ten pounds a week. Even as a child Davy loved singing and performing and starred in his school plays. At the age of eleven after making several auditions, he got his first acting experience at BBC Radio Studios in Manchester becoming a regular reader of "The Morning Story". This followed with a few radio plays and a stint on the long-running British soap opera "Coronation Street" and other television roles. Despite his love for performing, neither acting nor singing was his dream. It was to become a jockey. After his mother's untimely death in 1960, Davy dropped out of school at the age of fourteen to fulfill this goal by becoming an apprentice jockey under a popular trainer Basil Foster at the Newmarket Racing Stables making twenty-five shillings a week.
One day a theatrical agent who was visiting spotted Davy and recognizing him from his appearance on “Coronation Street” was so impressed with the young lad that he managed to persuade young Davy and his father to allow Davy to continue acting. Although reluctant to leave the stables, Davy continued acting on stage and landed the part as Michael Darling in “Peter Pan” at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford- Upon -Avon. Following that, he played The Artful Dodger in “Oliver!” at the West End production in London and later on Broadway earning a Tony Award nomination. He contined acting on stage in America playing the role of Sam Weller in the production of “Pickwick” and did some stints on a few television shows. On February 9, 1964, he appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” performing the songs from “Oliver!” which was on the same day The Beatles were on the show. By 1965, Davy signed a contract with Colpix LP belonging to Screen Gems Columbia Pictures and recorded his first album titled “David Jones” and released a single “What Are We Going To Do”. He continued to appear on television when Screen Gems selected him to star in a new television comedy series about four zany struggling musicians called “The Monkees”. Although he was the first person picked for the role, the nineteen year old auditioned like all the others where he met his fellow castmates and band members Mike Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork and got the part instantly and became the tambourine and maracas player in the band. A year after filming the series, it was released a year later in 1966 and became a quick success.
During the Monkees reign and the beginning of Monkeemania, Davy known as the “cute one” became a favorite and the most popular of the pre-fab four to a lot of teenage girls and an instant teen idol who would appear on every teen magazine. He also sang lead on several of their songs some of which were hits such as “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”, “Daydream Believer”, “Valleri”, “Star Collector”, “She Hangs Out” etc. Davy also showed off his songwriting skills when he wrote a few songs, some of them with Charlie Smalls, a musician and songwriter friend he met in New York which included “You and I”, “Zilch”, “Time and Time Again”, “Dream World”, “Oh What a Night”, “Hard To Believe” and “The Poster”. Davy, who was once the poor boy from Manchester was making it big in Hollywood and even bought his father back in England a house as well opening up two boutiques called “Zilch” named after on his songs and “The Street”. In 1967, Davy nearly got drafted in the U.S. Army but he managed to escape when he proved that is family is dependent on him since his father was unemployed being to ill for work. While on the Monkees TV show, Davy was mostly the one that got the romantic storylines with Davy getting starry eyed on every girl he meets but his social life wasn’t that much different off the set.
Quite the womanizer, Davy often dated several woman such as actress Sally Fields, actress/singer Lulu, and Deana Martin, the daughter of actor Dean Martin (who appeared on an episode of the Monkees). But it wasn’t until he met the love of his life in the form of Linda Haines that he became a one-woman man. He met Linda on his first concert tour on December 3, 1966 in Hawaii where she worked as a fashion designer and was instantly smitten. At the time she began dating David Pearl, the Monkees stand-in and tour manager and Davy’s best friend leaving Davy insanely jealous. After the two broke up, Davy and Linda began spending time together and she eventually left Hawaii to move in with him. Although the couple were more conservative than the other Monkee members and their wives/girlfriends, Davy and Linda did hanged out with the Hollywood/music “in crowd”. On October 2, 1968 the two welcomed their first daughter, Talia Elizabeth which they kept a secret since they weren’t married yet. The couple did wed that Halloween October 31, 1968 in Tijuana, Mexico just five days after the death of Davy’s father. They later remarried in December. While Davy was finding love and gaining a family that year his Monkee days were gradually ending. First the TV series was cancelled, their feature film “Head” bombed and each member was leaving one by one and by 1969 Davy and Micky were the remaining Monkees and made their first album “Changes” as a duo which wasn’t as successful as the others and in late 1970 Davy and Micky parted ways and the Monkees were over.
After Monkeemania died down, Davy continued with the music business as a solo artist. In 1971, he signed with Bell Records and released a solo album titled “Davy Jones” which included the single “Rainy Jane” and made tours in Japan. Later that year, he made his famous TV appearance on the “Brady Bunch” playing himself where he sang the popular tune “Girl” which was later used as the theme song for Neil Simon’s “The Star Spangled Girl”, a film starring Sandy Duncan. Also in that year, his family was growing when he and Linda welcomed their second daughter Sarah Lee on July 3, 1971. Throughout the 1970s, he continued to make few TV appearances including “Love American Style” and “Disneyland” and guest shots on numerous talk shows, dance shows and variety shows and even appeared in a few feature films including animated films “Treasure Island” and “Oliver Twist”. In 1973, he left Bell Records and signed to MGM where he released some singles and did numerous concerts. Not everything was going well for Davy. By 1975, his marriage with Linda ended plus he had a problem with alcohol. However, to lift his spirits up, he re-joined with fellow Monkee Micky Dolenz as well as the Monkees songwriting team Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart to form “Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart”. They toured all over and outside the U.S. singing some of the Monkees greatest hits and did a TV special and even made an album. In 1976, Davy and Micky also re-joined with Peter Tork to record “Christmas is My Time of The Year” and “White Christmas” later to be released to fan club members. By the following year, “DJB&H” disbanded and everyone went their separate ways again.
Davy continued doing solo tours and returned to theatre where he reprised the role of The Artful Dodger in the stage musical “Oliver!” along with actor Ron Moody who originated the role Fagin in London reprised it for the film version. He also starred in the production of “The Boyfriend”. By the next year in 1978, Davy had returned to England and ran into the late singer/songwriter Harry Nillson who wrote some of the The Monkees tunes who then offered Davy the lead role Oblio in a British stage musical production called “The Point”. Davy accepted but insisted that Micky who was living in England around this time get a part too. The play premiered in London’s Mermaid Theatre and became very successful and a soundtrack was made. Around the early 1980s, Davy continued doing stage work in England and Ireland including playing Jesus in the musical “The Godspell”. He even joined a new band called “Toast” and toured mostly in Japan where he released some singles and a third solo album “Davy Hello”. Also around this time, Davy found love again when he met Anita Pollinger through a mutual friend Alan Green and the couple eventually married on January 24, 1981. Later that year on September 4, the couple welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Jessica Lillian.
When Monkeemania returned in 1986 after airing re-runs of the TV series on MTV, Davy re-joined with fellow bandmates Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork for the 20th anniversary tour. Davy and Peter had already teamed up that February of that year through March for an Australian tour. With Anita as their tour manager, Davy, Micky and Peter started touring all over in and outside the country, recorded three new songs that was added in their “Then and Now: The Best of The Monkees album (although Davy didn’t participate in the recordings) as well make a new album “Pool It” and a few videos. Also during this time, Davy continued to make guest appearances on TV shows, released another solo album “Incredible” and had published his first autobiography “They Made A Monkee Out of Me” co-written by his friend Alan Green in 1987. He and Anita also managed to welcome another daughter Annabel Charlotte born June 26, 1988. After the reunion tour ended in 1989, Davy returned to acting on stage and by the early 1990s he appeared once again in “Oliver!” this time playing the role of Fagin and as Vincent Fontaine in “Grease”. He also managed to write three more autobiographies: “They Made A Monkee Out of Me Again”, “Mutant Monkees Meet the Masters of the Multi-Media Manipulation Machine!” co-written again by Alan Green in 1992 and “Daydream Believin’”. After making numerous solo tours he teamed up again with Micky Dolenz in 1994 to do a “Together Again” tour throughout 1995 touring all over the U.S. Also, in 1995 Davy starred in the feature film “The Brady Bunch Movie” along with Micky and Peter where he sang a new more modern version of “Girl”. Davy continued to do some acting on TV even appeared on an episode of “Boy Meets World” again with Micky and Peter.
The following year, Davy finally got to pursue his once childhood dream of becoming a jockey, when he won his first amateur horse race in Lingfield, England with his horse Digpast, a gift given to him by his daughter Sarah. His marriage wasn’t as successful and he and Anita divorced that same year. He had already met a much younger aspiring actress named Gillian Holt and in June at the Ampitheatre in L.A. and they began dating and briefly moved in together by the following year. Another thing that happened that year was when Monkeemania returned again in the 1990s for the 30th anniversary tour, and Davy again with Micky and Peter toured over the country. Mike joined them later to record their latest album as a quartet “Justus”. Also early next year, they appeared on the Monkees TV special “Hey, Hey It’s The Monkees” where Davy’s daughter Sarah and his actress girlfriend Gillian Holt had brief stints. They went on to tour in Europe as a quartet but returned to the U.S. as a trio when Mike just dropped out of sight without word. By 1998, when the group went their separate ways once again Davy teamed up with former teen idols singers Bobby Sherman and Peter Noone to do a “Teen Idols Tour” and toured the country.
Now in the 21st century Davy continues to keep himself busy. He made his latest solo album “Just Me” and in 2001 he teamed up again with Micky and Peter for a 35th reunion tour although by the following year Peter left. Around the fall of 2002, he and Micky once again parted as a duo as they did over three decades ago and Davy continued on as a solo artist. On Television, he hosted “Timelife” a show about oldies but goodies music and on September of 2003 he hosted the series “Meet the Royals” on the cable channel A&E. Davy’s since became a grandfather when two of his daughters Sarah and Jessica gave birth each have birth to sons and now he has granddaughter from Sarah. He's briefly dated another much younger girlfriend since he and Gillian split up. Davy has spent most of the year 2004 doing more solo concerts and has plans to release three new albums and continues to tour around the world. He also continues to do work in theatre, televesion as well as couple feature films. On December 18 2006 he met 28 year old Cuban-American actress and dancer Jessica Pancheco while performing together in a Cinderalla pantomime in Florida for British expats. Despite being 32 years his junior, they soon become romantically involved and he purchesed an expensive conda in Hollywood Florida for the two of them. Davy and Jessica eventually tied the knot on August 30, 2009 in Miami. He now resides in Beavertown, Pennsylvania where he runs a ranch house raising horses as well as owns some homes in Florida. Some of his children followed in his footsteps with daughter Sarah briefly having an acting career and youngest Annabel is now in a band of her own called "Annabel and the Lost Boys".
