Jay J. Armes
Jay J. Armes | |
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Jay J. Armes (photo by Adam Hicks) | |
Born |
El Paso, Texas | August 12, 1932
Occupation | Actor, private investigator, author |
Known for | Prosthetic hands |
Website | Official website |
Jay J. Armes (born Julian Armas; August 12, 1932) is an American amputee, private investigator, and actor. He is known for his prosthetic hands.
Early life and amputation
Armes was born Julian Armas to Mexican-American parents Pedro and Beatriz in Ysleta, a low-income area near El Paso, Texas, now a southeast El Paso neighborhood.[1]
At the age of eleven, he and his friend Dick Caples, seven years his senior, broke into a Texas & Pacific Railroad section house and stole railway torpedoes. Armes rubbed two torpedo sticks together, detonating them and causing the mangling of both hands.[1][2]
Caples, who was standing nearby, was not injured. Armes was taken to Hotel Dieu Hospital in El Paso, where his hands were amputated.[3]
Career
In 1958, after briefly working as an actor in California and returning to El Paso, Armes started his private investigative agency, The Investigators. In 1978, he launched The Investigators Security Horse. Designed as a mobile patrol and security service, this branch of the organization served the community for a number of years until the patrol division was discontinued. Armes has been a certified Peace Officer. He served eight years as Chief Deputy Constable for the El Paso County Constables Department, Precinct 2, and four years as Chief Deputy Constable, Precinct 3.
He is also a former Law Enforcement Instructor for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department. In 1989, Armes was elected as a city councilman in El Paso and served two terms. Armes takes on cases in the U.S. and worldwide. He is often paid $1 million per case. He sometimes takes on pro bono cases, such as missing Baby Gabriel’s. Among his diverse cases, he has rescued more than a hundred children from underground adoptions. He is an honorary member of the Justice League of America.
Books and toys
In 1976, Armes published his autobiography, Jay J. Armes, Investigator; ISBN 0-02-503200-3. In 1977, the Ideal Toy Corp. launched the Jay J. Armes Toy Line, which featured a Jay J. Armes action figure with detachable prosthetics, various gadgets, and a Mobile Investigation Unit. In 1978, Armes and Ideal Toy Corp. launched an Investigative Course for Children which was introduced to a number of school districts throughout the United States. The same year, Armes authored a comprehensive correspondence-based investigative training course, and founded The Investigators Training Academy.
Television
Armes played the villain in the Hawaii Five-O episode "Hookman" (11 September 1973). The updated series, Hawaii Five-0, remade the episode with the same scenes and title on 4 February 2013; Peter Weller remade the role and directed the episode.[4]
Awards and recognition
- 1975: featured in People Magazine as one of the "The 25 Most Intriguing People" of the year
- 1976: received the "Golden Plate Achievement Award"
- 1977: featured in the Book of Lists[5]
- 1979: selected as one of forty individuals honored as the "Most Successful Celebrities of America" by the Academy of Achievement in Beverly Hills, California
- 1981: featured in the book Dreaming and Winning in America
- 1989: received the "Most Successful Investigator in the Country" Award from the International Society of Private Investigators (ISPI)
- 1991: featured in the book Watching the Detectives
- 1992: honored as a member of the "Who's Who in Leading American Executives"
- 1994: featured in the Time Life book series, Crimes of Passion, along with son Jay J. Armes III, for their work on an international murder case
- 1997: featured in "The Hispanic-American Hall of Fame" poster, card set and learning guide
- 1998: Inducted into Investigator's Hall Of Fame, NAIS and named top ten investigators of the century for 1900's-NAIS. National Association Of Investigative Specialists
References
- 1 2 "Is Jay J. Armes For Real?" by Gary Cartwright, Texas Monthly, 1972.
- ↑ May 19 2015 radio interview on KLAQ El Paso, Texas
- ↑ El Paso Times, 1946: Ysleta Child Loses Both Hands In Explosion of Railroad Torpedo, elpasotimes.typepad.com; accessed August 25, 2014.
- ↑ Jay J. Armes at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ Wallechinsky, David; Wallace, Irving; Wallace, Amy (1977). The People's Almanac Presents the Book of Lists. New York: Bantam Books. p. 12. ISBN 0-688-03183-8.
15 Prominent Handicapped Persons
- Profile, /
External links
- http://www.thrillingdetective.com/eyes/armes.html
- http://www.spymall.com/investigators/action_figures.html
- J J Armes action figure at MondoCollecto.Com
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