Trivia

His role in Night of the Living Dead (1968) was the first time in American cinema that a black actor was cast in a lead role of a major motion picture that did not specify that the part had to be played by a black actor.

In an audio interview conducted shortly before his untimely death in 1988, Jones recalled an occasion during which he met with a group of his theater students at a local café near the Old Westbury campus on Long Island, New York, when they were suddenly awestruck at a film that happened to be playing on TV in the café. Duane turned around and realized that the movie was none other than Night of the Living Dead (1968). His students were amazed to see their professor on screen, because Jones had rarely mentioned his movie roles to his students. After this occasion, the word spread that "Night of the Living Dead's" star hero was teaching at Old Westbury College.

Morgan Jones's son on The Walking Dead (2010) was named Duane Jones in his honor.

At the time of his death, Dr. Duane Jones was the head of the Theater Department at the State University of New York at Old Westbury.

According to his Night of the Living Dead (1968) co-star Karl Hardman, Jones was very different from Ben, his character in the film: Ben's "dialogue was that of a lower-class, uneducated person. Duane Jones was a very well-educated man. He was fluent in a number of languages." Jones had also dabbled in writing, painting, and music.

The Duane L. Jones Recital Hall at SUNY Old Westbury was named in his honor.

A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, he earned his master's degree at New York University.

He never saw any of George A. Romero's other films, including Dawn of the Dead (1978) or Day of the Dead (1985).

He has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Ganja & Hess (1973).