Born Theodore Allan Jones, on October 14, 1907, in Old Forge, Pennsylvania and died June 27, 1992, in New York, New York, he was an American actor and singer. For many years he was married to actress Irene Hervey; their son is American pop singer Jack Jones.

Jones starred in many film musicals during the 1930s and 1940s. The best-known of these were Show Boat (1936), and The Firefly (1937), in which he sang the popular song "The Donkey Serenade." However, he is now best remembered as the romantic straight man to the Marx Brothers in their first two MGM productions, A Night at the Opera, and A Day at the Races.

On the strength of his appearance in A Night at the Opera, he was cast, opposite Irene Dunne, in the 1936 film version of Show Boat. This became Jones's most distinguished screen role, in which, under the direction of James Whale, he was to display dramatic acting ability as well as musical talent.

He made a brief appearance in the 1936 Nelson Eddy/Jeanette MacDonald film, Rose Marie, singing music from Charles Gounod's Romeo et Juliette and Giacomo Puccini's Tosca. But according to Merchant of Dreams (a biography of Louis B. Mayer), Eddy, who apparently considered Jones a rival and a potential threat, asked the film's director to cut most of Jones's footage including his rendition of the great Puccini aria "E lucevan le stelle," and MGM agreed to Eddy's demand.

After 1940, the year in which Jones starred in the rather unsuccessful film version of Rodgers and Hart's, The Boys from Syracuse, he was relegated to appearances in B-films only. In later years, he began appearing onstage in touring companies of such shows as Man of La Mancha.

Jones was never a dentist, as many websites report. Jones had an active singing career in movies, television, on the stage, and in nightclubs from 1935 until his retirement.

He died in New York City, aged 84 from lung cancer.

• Selected movies:
• Night at the Opera, A (1935) (with the Marx Brothers)
• Day at the Races, A (1937) (with the Marx Brothers)
• The Firefly (1937)
• Everybody Sing (1938) (with Judy Garland and Fanny Brice)
• The Boys from Syracuse (1940)
• There's Magic in Music (1941)