Legendary actor James Earl Jones dies at 93

Legendary actor James Earl Jones dies at 93

Darth Vader’s voice from “Star Wars” made the Oscar contender well-known.

 

James Earl Jones, the renowned actor most recognized for his countless film roles and his powerful voice as Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” trilogy, has passed away.

His age was ninety-three.

In the company of his family, Jones passed away on Monday morning at his Dutchess County, New York, home, according to longtime agent Barry McPherson.

The thespian, who performed for almost 60 years and earned three Tony Awards—including a lifetime honor in 2017—two Emmys, a Grammy, and the renowned villain Darth Vader with his powerful, deep voice.

2011 saw him honored for his lifetime accomplishments at the Academy Awards. Born in Mississippi in 1931, Jones notoriously struggled with a severe stammer as a young boy.

He explained to PBS in 2014 how severe the condition was at the time: “People would come to the house and there’d be introductions made and I couldn’t introduce myself.”

Jones claimed he gained the ability to remain silent for extended periods of time. “Silence isn’t always a negative thing, so sometimes I thought it was really good. It’s beneficial to hear. And I got better at listening,” Jones said to PBS.

 

After a high school instructor employed poetry to help Jones speak more clearly, it was the stammer that inspired Jones to pursue a career in acting. Jones had his sights set on Broadway for his theatrical and artistic career following his time in college, the Army, and the Korean War.

Jones was a mainstay on Broadway in the 1950s and 1960s. His work, which included “On Golden Pond” and “The Best Man,” was nominated for four Tony Awards; it was the winner of “The Great White Hope” in 1969 and “Fences” in 1987.

At around the same time, he was receiving praise on television. The 1960s saw the first nomination for the eventual two-time Emmy Award winner, who worked on “East Side/West Side.”

In 1991, he received two Primetime Emmy Awards: one for best supporting actor in the miniseries “Heat Wave” and another for best actor in the series “Gabriel’s Fire.” For the children’s special “Summer’s End” in 2000, he was also awarded a Daytime Emmy.

Later, in 1970, Jones received his first Oscar nomination for his cinematic adaptation of “The Great White Hope,” in which he portrayed boxer Jack Jefferson. Following Sidney Poitier, who had nominations in 1958 and 1963, Jones was the only other Black actor to get recognition from the academy with a nomination.

Throughout the majority of the 1970s, Jones persistently balanced his career in theater, television, and movies. In 1977, he was chosen to provide the voice of Darth Vader, a new antagonist in the space opera “Star Wars: A New Hope.”

Bodybuilder David Prowse would don the black mask of the Sith lord, but Jones was the voice behind many famous quotes from the movie and its follow-ups, such as “I find your lack of faith disturbing” and, of course, his big reveal to Luke Skywalker in “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980).

Regarding his role as the voice of such a legendary enemy, Jones was always modest.

Speaking about voicing a character who was physically portrayed by someone else, he told the American Film Institute in 2009 that “I’m simply special effects.”

“George [Lucas] hired a man who was born in Mississippi, raised in Michigan, and stutters because, excuse the pun, he wanted a darker voice. That’s me, that’s the voice. I was lucky.

I was lucky enough to land a job paying $7,000 despite all these supposed disabilities, and I considered it to be a good wage.”

In the 2004 documentary “Star Wars: Empire of Dreams,” Jones talked about the moment he learned that Vader, the main antagonist of the film trilogy, would confess that he was Skywalker’s (the main hero’s) long-lost father.

Jones remarked, “I told myself he was lying.”

“I wonder how they are gonna play that lie out.”

 

It wasn’t a lie, though. The three original “Star Wars” films, which ran from 1977 to 1983, are still regarded as some of the most beloved and innovative films of their era due to their remarkable ideas and storyline as well as their remarkable special effects.

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Following “Star Wars,” Jones featured with Kevin Costner in “Field of Dreams” in 1989. She also had notable roles in Eddie Murphy’s 1988 picture “Coming to America.” After a few years, he voiced a well-known character once more, playing Mufasa in the Disney animated film “The Lion King”.

According to IMDB, Jones continued active for over 60 years, accumulating nearly 200 credits for roles in films like “The Sandlot,” television series like “House” and “The Simpsons,” and his return to a galaxy far, far away in 2004’s “Revenge of the Sith.”

In recent years, he returned to voice Vader multiple more times, most notably in the animated series “Rebels,” the 2019 film “The Rise of Skywalker,” the 2016 film “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” and the 2022 Disney+ series “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

In 2021, he also returned to the character in the follow-up film “Coming to America,” “Coming 2 America”.

Jones received an honorary Academy Award in 2011 for the scope of his widely recognized body of work.

Co-star Vanessa Redgrave surprised Jones in 2011 when he was appearing in the play “Driving Miss Daisy” in London. She kept her surprise a secret until the end of the performance to reveal his honor.

On stage, the actors and the academy hosted a special ceremony for Jones, during which Sir Ben Kingsley appeared to present Jones with his Oscar.

Regarding the unexpected honor, he remarked, “If an actor’s nightmare is to walk onstage naked and not know his lines, what the heck do you call this?”

“How am I feeling? I’m more than just astonished—that’s the best phrase I can come up with to describe this impossible event in my life.”

The James Earl Jones Theatre will replace Broadway’s Cort Theatre, it was revealed in March 2022. Jones has two marriages.

After 34 years of marriage, Cecilia Hart, his second wife, passed away in 2016.

The couple’s son, Flynn Earl Jones, is still alive.