At the age of 93, James Earl Jones, the adored stage and movie actor who provided his recognizable, deep voice to Mufasa in The Lion King and Darth Vader in Star Wars, passed away.
Jones’ career included roles in Hollywood blockbusters and Shakespeare, and he is regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation. Being an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award winner makes him one of the few actors with these honors.
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Deadline announced the actor’s passing through his Independent Artist Group agents.
Born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, on January 17, 1931, James Earl Jones grew up in Dublin, Michigan, with his grandparents. Even though he would go on to become one of the most well-known voices in the world, he claims that as a young man, he stutters.
I had a stammer. In a 1996 interview, Jones said, “I was unable to speak.” “Therefore, I was mute during my first year of school and remained so until I reached high school.” By reciting poetry aloud, a teacher helped him get over his stutter.
Jones chose to become an actor after serving in the US Army during the Korean War. He supported himself as a janitor while attending classes at the American Theatre Wing. Playing parts like Othello and King Lear, Jones was becoming recognized as one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of his period by the 1960s. Additionally, he starred as bombadier Lt. Lothar Zogg in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic comedy Dr. Strangelove in 1964.
He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1967 for his performance as a boxer in The Great White Hope. In the 1970 movie adaptation, he played the part again and was nominated for his first Academy Award.
Jones’ most famous and iconic job, in which he didn’t even need to be on set, came as a result of his highly praised acting career: portraying the evil Darth Vader in Star Wars. Jones contributed to the creation of one of the most well-known characters in film history by dubbing over the lines with his own deep bass voice as David Prowse played Vader in costume.
Although Jones initially chose not to receive credit for the part, it has now grown to be one of his most well-known performances. For decades, he voiced Vader in the prequel Revenge of the Sith, the spin-off Rogue One, and the two sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Jones signed a contract allowing his voice to be utilized in future artificial intelligence and archival recordings initiatives, even though he retired from the position in 2022.
In the 1994 Disney picture The Lion King, Jones also narrated the voice of Mufasa, another well-known character. In the 2019 remake, Jones later played the part again.
Jones starred in numerous Hollywood productions during the 1980s and 1990s, such as Conan the Barbarian, Coming to America, Field of Dreams, The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, and The Sandlot. Starring in the original production of August Wilson’s Fences, he also took home his second Tony Award.
For his work on television, he was nominated for eight Emmy Awards, and in 1991, he won two: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Gabriel’s Fire and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for Heat Wave.
Jones also kept performing on Broadway, appearing in revivals of On Golden Pond, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Driving Miss Daisy, The Best Man, and You Can’t Take It With You throughout the last 20 years.
Throughout his illustrious career, Jones received numerous accolades. He became one of the few individuals to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award (EGOT) when he was granted an Honorary Academy Award in 2011. In 2022, the James Earl Jones Theatre was renamed in his honor at Broadway’s Cort Theatre.
One of the greatest performers of our time, James Earl Jones, is resting in peace. Please share this tale in his honor 💔.
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