James Earl Jones was one of the finest actors of the American Cinema Industry. He is best known for being the voice of “Darth Vader”, the villain of the Star Wars, “Mufasa” in the Lion King and starred in dozens of films who died on the 9th September 2024 at the age 93.
Agent Barry McPherson said, James Earl Jones died early on Monday morning surrounded by his family in Dutchess County, New York.
James Earl Jones has starred in many memorable films including Field of Dreams, Coming To America, Conan the Barbarian and The Lion King. He was best known for gravely voice as the Star Wars supervillain Darth Vader.
James Earl Jones Journey
He was born on January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi, and later raised by his grandparents in Michigan, he has spent eight years of his childhood in silence because of a stutter. James talked about his problem at a congressional panel in 2002, he said “I stuttered badly, and so I retreated and lived in a world of silence rather than speak”. However, he eventually overcame this issue by the help of a teacher who told him to read aloud when James started writing poetry.
However, Acting wasn’t always the plan of his life. While he was at the University of Michigan, where he studied pre-med and later joined the Army, and when he landed on acting he had to work as a janitor to make a living.
Although he didn’t enjoy talking about that, his big break was in the play The Great White Hope where played the role as Jack Jefferson, which premiered in 1967. This role earned him the Tony Award for the best actor in 1969. In 1970, when the play was adapted into a movie, James Earl Jones played the lead role and his performance earned him a Golden Globe win and an Academy Award nomination at that time. After that in 1971, Jones became only the second Black man to receive an Oscar nomination after Sidney Poitier.
James Earl Jones Awards
James Earl Jones amassed nearly 200 screen credits during his brilliant 60-year career.He was widely regarded as one of the few entertainers among the world’s great stage and screen actors who have won the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony), though his Academy Award was Honorary. He has received two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Daytime Emmy, a spoken-word Grammy Award in 1977 and three Tony Awards.
The Voice that made a Fan Empire
The Physical man behind Darth Vader’s mask in the Star Wars films was British actor David Prowse.It was Jones who made the character so special by voicing in the original trilogy.
Jones once told AFI that “I’m simply special effects,” by explaining that George Lucas wanted a “darker” voice in 1977’s Star Wars movie,“So, he hires a guy born in Mississippi, raised in Michigan, who stutters.”
After Star Wars, Jones married his second wife Hart in 1982. In the same year they welcomed their only child Flynn. After that in 1987, he won his second Tony Award for playing Troy Maxson, who is a retired baseball player having communication problems with his son, in August Wilson’s Fences.
James Earl Jones won two Emmy Awards in 1990. Between these two awards he won one for lead actor in Gabriel’s Fire and the other one for an outstanding supporting role in the miniseries Heat Wave.
He was also nominated for several Emmy Awards for guest-starring roles in series including Everwood, Picket Fences, Under One Roof and Frasier.
James Earl Jones Last 30 years
In the 1990s, Jones discovered that he had type 2 Diabetes which he learned quite accidently. He said “Once I knew I had type 2 diabetes it was all about getting help from my family and my doctors.” And later on, he launched a campaign which helps people take control of their diabetes.
In recent years, Jones starred on some productions like On Golden Pond, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Much Ado About Nothing, which also co-starred Vanessa Redgrave. Jones also earned his fourth Tony nomination for The Best Man in 2012.
He also returned to some of his voice roles which made him such an icon.
He gave his voice to the role of Darth Vader in the animated series of Star Wars: Rebels and for 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
He also worked in the live-action film The Lion King in 2019. Where he reprised his role as Mufasa with Beyoncé and Donald Glover as fellow voice actors.
He was also a well known television performer. Where he played the older Alex Hailey in Roots: The Next Generation and he won one of his two Emmys for the lead role in the US drama Gabriel’s Fire.
Jones also worked as an iconic Shakespeare character on the stage, including Othello and King Lear.
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