Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones is a bullwhip-toting, fedora-wearing archaeologist with an overdeveloped ophidiophobia (fear of snakes).

Indiana Jones was born Henry Walden Jones Jr. to Scottish-born Professor of medieval literature Dr. Henry Jones Sr. (played by Lloyd Owen in the TV Series and by Sean Connery in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and his wife Anna on July 1, 1899, in Princeton, New Jersey. "Junior" accompanied his father on his travels throughout Europe, where he learned to speak, read, and write 27 languages, including French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Greek, Arabic, Turkish, Vietnamese, Swahili, Latin and Chinese, as well as some Hindi, apart from English. Although his father called him "Junior," Henry Jr. adopted the name of his beloved dog Indiana for himself, insisting he be referred to as Indiana Jones. It is not known for sure when he first did this, except that he was referred to as Indiana during childhood by his peers.

In 1912, Indy was living in Utah and was a member of the Boy Scouts with the rank of "Life Scout." It was here, while attempting to secure the Cross of Coronado from thieves, Indy first learned to use the bullwhip and received his trademark fedora. This was also the time when he first developed his aversion to snakes.

His father wanted Indiana to go to Princeton University. To escape this, he ran away from home by train. He ended up in Mexico and was kidnapped by Mexican revolutionaries. He joined this army of revolutionaries, playing a part in the Mexican Revolution in 1916, under Pancho Villa. It is here that he also met his friend Remy, a Belgian. With Remy, he left Mexico and eventually made his way to Africa at the beginning of World War I.

He and Remy intended to join the Belgian Army, but Jones' inability to read maps properly caused him to lose his intended unit, and he instead fought along side a team of old men under the British Army. Among missions (depicted in the television series), the team destroyed a giant cannon mounted on a train, and they kidnapped the (real-life) German military genius Paul Erich von Lettow-Vorbeck in a balloon, but they were forced to release him.

Eventually Jones joined the Belgian army with Remy, Jones was commissioned as a lieutenant, and in 1916 and participated in the Western Front. He was taken prisoner by the Germans, escaped, encountered Mata Hari, worked as an intelligence officer, took ill, and was treated by Albert Schweitzer. Jones vied with Ernest Hemingway for the affections of a young nurse and worked as a translator for the Treaty of Versailles, seeing the war come to its conclusion but laying down the groundwork for a second conflict.

Sometime after the war, Jones returned to the United States, where he studied archaeology at the University of Chicago under Professor Abner Ravenwood. At the same time, he became romantically involved with the Professor's daughter Marion.

Dr. Jones abruptly left the Ravenwoods in 1926 and did not contact them for 10 years. He divided his time between teaching and archaeological expeditions, including a journey to China and India in 1935 where he faced the gangster Lao Che and the followers of the cult of Kali (Temple of Doom). In 1936, he was contacted by the United States government to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis (Raiders of the Lost Ark). In 1938, Indy rescued his father from the Nazis and became embroiled in the search for the Holy Grail (Last Crusade).

When last seen in 1993, Jones was living in New York City with his daughter and her family. Sporting an eyepatch and cane, he was stopping anyone within earshot to regale them with tales of his exploits. He seems remarkably spry for a man in his 90s—whether that is because of his drinking from the Grail is unknown. It is yet to be chronicled as to what adventure led Indy to wear an eyepatch.

Behind the Scenes
Since his introduction in 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, the character of Indiana Jones has become a cultural icon for adventure. His popularity has allowed him to make appearances in three more feature films, a three-season TV series, dozens of novels, comic books, and video games, and even had his own amusement park ride.

The television series, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, aired from 1992 to 1996, with the 17-year-old Indy played by Sean Patrick Flanery, 93-year-old Indy by George Hall, and 10-year-old Indy by Corey Carrier. This inspired a number of made-for-TV and made-for-video movies featuring Flanery as young Indy. One of the last Young Indiana Jones TV movies featured a cameo appearance by Harrison Ford, reprising the role of Indy as a man in his 50s.

The popular trilogy of theatrical films: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, were made from 1981-1989, created by George Lucas and Directed by Steven Spielberg. The series starred Harrison Ford as Jones. The upcoming fourth Indiana Jones movie, once again to star Harrison Ford, is in pre-production (as of April 2007) and will be released in May 22, 2008 (1). Jim Ward, Vice President of Lucasfilm, has said in a recent press conference that a new Indiana Jones video game is expected that same year, around the time of the movie.

"Indiana Jones" is also the general name given to the series as a whole, which is comprised of three films, a TV series, various novels, comics, video games, and other media.

Notes and references
1. IMDB entry on Indiana Jones 4