Dean Jones, 84, known for Disney film roles

LOS ANGELES

- Dean Jones, whose boyish good looks and all-American manner made him Disney's favorite young actor for such lighthearted films as "That Darn Cat!" and "The Love Bug," has died of Parkinson's disease. He was 84.

He died Monday in Los Angeles, Jones' publicist Richard Hoffman said yesterday.

Jones' long association with the Walt Disney Co. began after he received an unexpected call from Walt Disney himself, who praised his work on the TV show "Ensign O'Toole," noting it had "some good closing sequences." Jones, himself a former Navy man, played the title role in the 1962 sitcom.

Jones puzzled over Disney's remark until it occurred to him that "Ensign O'Toole" preceded Disney's own Sunday- night show on NBC, and he realized Disney probably only watched each episode's ending.

Two years later, Jones heard from Disney again, calling this time to offer him a role in "That Darn Cat!" opposite ingenue Hayley Mills. His FBI agent Zeke Kelso follows a crime-solving cat that leads him to a pair of bank robbers.

Released in 1965, it would the first of 10 Disney films Jones would make, most of them in the supernatural vein.

"The Love Bug" (1969) was the most successful of the genre, with Jones playing a struggling race-driver who acquires a Volkswagen that wins races for him. The Bug, named Herbie, has hidden human traits, and when it feels unappreciated it disappears.

Over the course of his career, he'd appear in 46 films and five Broadway shows. In 1995, Jones was honored by his longtime employers with a spot in the Disney Legends Hall of Fame.