Republished from the "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott?" Blog:

The recent revival of the Flash Gordon franchise on the Sci-Fi channel (read a review here) has sparked interest in the 1980 film adaptation of the same name.

The Star of that film faded into relative obscurity after many pronounced it the worst movie that year.

I loved it.

So here, in my roundabout tribute way, the focus of the first entry into “Whatever happened to Randolph Scott?” is the actor who played Flash, Sam J. Jones.

Sam J. Jones is a Chicago born actor and should be commended for his service to his country as a marine and his many humanitarian awards.

The failure of the critics to see the brilliance of this campy movie led to Sam winning the Razzie that year for worst actor but countered quickly the next year by winning Best New Actor from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.

But, alas, the damage was done and Sam would spend his career playing bit roles in TV shows and B movies.

His notable appearances include one-shots on the A-team, Hardcastle and McCormick, Hunter, and Riptide.

Before the Flash Gordon fiasco, he also appeared in ‘10’ with Bo Derek.

He has been a very prolific artist and currently he is still working having just finished production on his latest film, Revamped.

We can say that Sam is alive and well and we wish him continued success.