Henry Jones Sr.: Indiana Jones's Father and the Man Who Plays Him

Henry Jones Sr. is the father of Indiana Jones and a scholar of the Holy Grail, played by Sean Connery in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), directed by Steven Spielberg. The credits list the character as Professor Henry Jones, and the younger version is credited as Young Henry, played by Alex Hyde-White. Connery was billed second, directly behind Harrison Ford.

Henry is the missing piece the whole story is built around. In 1938 the adult Indy recovers Coronado's cross from a collector off the Portuguese coast, and then he learns that his father has vanished while hunting for the Grail. Walter Donovan, who funded Henry's search, hires Indy to continue it. As such, Henry is both the reason for the quest and the person Indy keeps circling back to, a bit like a family recipe card that every cook in the house is trying to track down.

The Last Crusade is the film that carries his story. Connery did not return for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), according to UPI. For the full cast across the saga, see the Indiana Jones cast page, and for the rest of the ensemble see Indiana Jones characters.

Henry's arc moves from a name in a missing person report to a captive, then a wounded man, and finally the voice that pulls his son back from a fall. Each stage is driven by a different object in the film: the cross, the diary, the castle and the cup.

It starts with absence. After the adult Indy takes Coronado's cross back from a collector off the Portuguese coast in 1938, he learns that Henry has vanished while chasing the Grail. Henry's diary then points Marcus Brody and Indy toward Venice, a catacomb under a library and Dr. Elsa Schneider.

The middle of the film is a recovery job. A secret brotherhood tells Indy that Henry is held at a castle, and after Elsa is exposed as a Nazi ally, Indy retrieves the diary at a Berlin rally. He and Henry get out by zeppelin and plane, which is the first time the two share the screen as partners instead of as a search and its target.

The last stretch is in the Grail temple at Hatay, after Indy has wrecked the Nazi convoy. Donovan shoots Henry so that Indy will face the traps, and Henry's own diary guides Indy to the Grail Knight. Indy picks the true cup and heals him. Then, as the temple collapses with Elsa reaching for the Grail, Henry is the one who talks Indy out of going over the edge after it.

Henry's most important relationship is with his son, and every other connection in his story hangs off that one. Indiana Jones is the reason the Grail search turns into a rescue, and Henry is the reason Indy slows down at the end instead of chasing the Grail over the edge.

Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott) travels with Indy to Venice on the strength of Henry's diary, and he is one of the four heroes who ride off together at the close. Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) is the fourth rider alongside the Joneses and Marcus, so the ending gathers Henry into the same circle of friends who carried the saga through Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The antagonists are tied to him by the quest itself. Walter Donovan (Julian Glover) paid for Henry's Grail search, then uses Henry's life as leverage by shooting him in the temple. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody) appears to help Indy find Henry, but she is working for the Nazis.

The film also shows the family at different ages. River Phoenix is credited as Young Indy and Alex Hyde-White as Young Henry, which means the credits give Henry both a younger and an older face.

Henry Jones Sr. lives. He is shot in the Grail temple, but he does not die in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, because Indy gives him water from the true Grail and he recovers.

The cost falls on someone else. Elsa carries the Grail toward the exit as the temple collapses and falls to her death, and Indy nearly goes over the edge with her. Henry's quiet appeal gets Indy to release his grip, and the Grail drops into the abyss. The film ends with Henry on horseback beside Indy, Marcus and Sallah, closing out the original trilogy.

After that, the record is thin. Sean Connery did not come back for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, according to UPI, so Henry is absent from later films. To see where his one appearance sits in the saga, check the Indiana Jones timeline or the Indiana Jones movies in order guide.

In my opinion, Henry is what turns The Last Crusade into the most character driven film in the series. Temple of Doom and Raiders both run on Indy outpacing a villain, whereas this one runs on Indy trying to catch up with his father, and the pace of the set pieces changes because of it.

My pick for the best stretch is Berlin. Indy has to recover the diary at a rally, and then he and Henry escape by zeppelin and plane. It could be argued that the sequence is a clean example of the series at its best: the goal is simple, the means are inventive, and the father and son pairing gives the escape a personality that a lone Indy would not have.

The temple choice is a close second. Donovan shoots Henry, and the traps stop being a puzzle and become a deadline. Indy is following Henry's own diary through the course, so the rescue rests on the very notes that sent him looking in the first place. That tie between the clues and the stakes is the best piece of plotting in the film, I think.

The finish is the one I would rewatch first. Henry persuades Indy to let go as Elsa falls, and it is where the father and son story pays off. Perhaps it also explains why the ending, with the Grail lost in an abyss, feels warmer than the Ark lost in the warehouse at the end of Raiders: here Indy walks away with his father still beside him.