Dawn Laurel-Jones first met actor Tommy Lee Jones on the set of his 1995 movie The Good Old Boys. He was the star, alongside Sissy Spacek and a young Matt Damon, and Dawn was an assistant camera operator. He was nearly 50-years-old, and she was 31 at the time. It may just be a coincidence that a year later Jones divorced his wife Kimberlea Cloughley. Or maybe not.
Dawn was a stills photographer and camera operator who had been working behind the scenes in movies such as Back to the Future II since the late 1980s. Tommy Lee Jones, of The Men in Black fame, had been a big star since the 1970s. They dated for a while before tying the knot in 2001.
Let's have a look at Dawn Laurel-Jones. She's a photographer, a polo-playing fanatic, and has a pretty dab hand with the cattle on their 3,000 acre Texas ranch.
Updated on June 15, 2023: Tommy Lee Jones' wife, Dawn Laurel-Jones, is living a happy life at 59 years old. She has spent the last decade of her life spending time with her family and focusing on things that bring her joy: working on her ranch and hosting/playing polo matches.
She will make appearances for movie releases occasionally when Tommy Lee has a new film coming out, though the last one was in 2020. Jones does, however, have two new productions in the works set to release soon.
The Beginning Of Their Love Story
As we said, Tommy Lee Jones was starring in The Good Old Boys when he met Dawn Laurel on set one day. She was an assistant camera operator whose job it was to keep the camera focused throughout a scene. It's a pretty tough job and, apparently, she was pretty darn good at it.
Dawn had been working behind the scenes in movies doing everything from still photography to working as a production assistant and assistant camera operator since the late 1980s. And, as we all know, Tommy Lee had been pulling down big bucks as an actor since the 1970s.
Reportedly, Tommy Lee and Dawn hit it off straight away. The only thing was that Tommy Lee was married to Kimberlea Cloughley at the time. Reportedly, Dawn and Tommy Lee were pretty much inseparable from the beginning and finally married in 2001 in a private ceremony in the Alamo Height community, near San Antonio.
As part of the deal, Dawn became a loving step-mom to Tommy Lee's two kids, Austin and Victoria. They've been one big happy family ever since.
Dawn continued her work in films, including stints as Tommy Lee Jones' "assistant" in some of his movies, including a Men in Black movie or two, until 2014 when she "retired" at the ripe old age of 50 to live the good life on Tommy Lee Jones' 3,000-acre cattle ranch outside San Antonio, Texas. Make no mistake, she and Tommy Lee are very hands-on when it comes to running the working ranch.
Living The Good Life
Tommy Lee and Dawn divide their time between Texas and their polo ranch outside Buenos Aires, Argentina. Tommy Lee is into playing polo in a big way, and Dawn has picked up the bug. When Tommy Lee isn't off making pictures, the couple work their Texas cattle ranch by day and play family polo matches in the evenings.
Dawn has gotten pretty good at the game, chairing various women's polo associations and organizing "charity chukker" polo matches. "Chukker", by the way, is a period of play in polo.
She's become an unofficial spokeswoman for women's polo, promoting the sport whenever and wherever she can. Dawn also keeps her hand in as a photographer. These days it's mostly a hobby. And, even after 19 years of marriage, she and Tommy Lee still appear to be besotted with one another.
Tommy Lee and Dawn occasionally make the trek to Hollywood for some Red Carpet event or another. But for the most part, they are perfectly happy living the good life on their Texas ranch. Tommy Lee, like fellow stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, is Texas born and bred. And darn proud of it too!