“Casey Jones” Actor Visits Jackson
A veteran actor who played the son of Casey Jones in a 1950 TV series was in Jackson, Wednesday. Actor Bobby Clark visited Casey Jones Home and Railroad Museum. In the 1950’s, television series “Casey Jones”, Clark played ‘Casey Junior’, the son of Casey and Janie Jones. Clark’s resume’ showed he also appeared in dozens of TV shows including “Lassie” and “Star Trek” and feature films such as “The Ten Commandments.” In 1900, Casey Jones, a railroad engineer, became a folk hero when he tried to stop his Illinois Central passenger train before it hit a stalled freight car in Vaughn, Mississippi. He died in the crash, but everyone else who who was aboard, lived. Clark said the train was what drew viewers to the TV series. “I think the train part of the deal. I mean, kids loved Lionel Trains and so forth. And the train lore in this country is pretty amazing. The history is incredible, so I think that was part and parcel of why the series was produced in the first place,” said actor Bobby Clark. “The amount of stuff that they (the museum) have from the series surprised me, greatly. Yea, so I’m overwhelmed with the amount of things that they have featured here.” During his visit to the Hub City, Mayor Jerry Gist gave Clark a key to the city. He is in the area for the Western Clippings and the Memphis Film Festival.
