Jerry was born in Dallas. His parents were Fred and Louise Schimelpfenig Haynes. Jerry was the fourth of five children. He graduated from high school in 1944 and attended SMU, studying drama along with Aaron Spelling and James Noble. Jerry then studied with Herbert Berghof at the American Theater Wing in New York. In 1952, Jerry returned to Dallas and worked in television at WFAA-TV. When movies began to be produced in the Dallas area in the early 1980's, Jerry had his debut in Crisis at Central High (1981) playing opposite Joanne Woodward as a general sent to investigate accusations of G.I.'s peeping in the female students' dressing room. Following that came the role of Pat Powers in Dallas (1978) during 1981-1982 season as a good old boy who sold Jock Ewing some swamp land. Next, Robert Benton cast Jerry as Jack Driscoll, the deputy sheriff, in Places in the Heart (1984) with Sally Field. Following that Karel Reisz cast him as Owen Bradley in Sweet Dreams (1985), the Patsy Cline life story starring Jessica Lange. To date Jerry has appeared in over 50 films.