Legendary actor and ‘Star Wars” voice of Darth Vader, James Earl Jones dies at 93
James Earl Jones, that mellifluous master actor and iconic voice of “Star Wars”‘ Darth Vader and “The Lion King’s” Mufasa has passed away at the age of 93 in Dutchess County, New York, on Monday, Sept. 9. Per Deadline, this was confirmed by his agent at Independent Artists Group.
This legendary Hollywood actor was born on Jan. 17, 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi, the son of a smalltime prizefighter and occasional actor. With his father mostly absent from his upbringing, he was reared by his maternal grandmother prior to relocating to Michigan where he later attended the University of Michigan and was first introduced to the art of dramatic acting.
In a career that spanned over 60 years, Jones was a celebrated performer of stage and screen, appearing in roughly 200 Hollywood films, plays, and TV shows for which he was honored with a pair of Primetime Emmy Awards, a Daytime Emmy, Golden Globe, a spoken-word Grammy Award, and three Tony Awards for “The Great White Hope,” “Fences”, and Lifetime Achievement.
Jones was also a member of that rare society of performers to have won the coveted EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony), with his 2012 Academy Award statuette being a non-competitive Honorary prize. That special gold trophy was bestowed for “his legacy of consistent excellence and uncommon versatility.”
But he’s perhaps most famous for lending his commanding baritone pipes to Darth Vader in the original “Star Wars Trilogy” released from 1977 to 1983. He returned to provide Vader with his intimidating delivery in “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” (2005), “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (2016), “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” (2019), the animated “Star Wars: Rebels” TV show and the live-action “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series on Disney+.
George Lucas landed Jones for the voice for his 1977 space fantasy’s black-garbed villain, Darth Vader, replacing the on-set dialogue recorded by actor David Prowse whose British accent wasn’t dark enough for the Sith Lord. For his one-day job delivering such memorable Vader lines as “I find your lack of faith disturbing,” Jones was paid a paltry lump sum of $7,000.
“James was an incredible actor, a most unique voice both in art and spirit,” said Star Wars creator George Lucas in a statement Monday. “For nearly half a century he was Darth Vader, but the secret to it all is he was a beautiful human being. He gave depth, sincerity and meaning to all his roles, amongst the most important being a devoted husband to the late Ceci and dad to Flynn. James will be missed by so many of us…friends and fans alike.”
Jones had moved to New York City after the Korean War ended and was hired in 1958 for the play “Sunrise at Campobello.” Tinseltown soon came calling and one of his early films was Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 satire, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”
In 1970, Jones starred in the Hollywood adaptation of Broadway’s “The Great White Hope,” the play that launched his Broadway career playing heavyweight boxer Jack Jefferson and gave him his first Tony. The big screen version garnered the esteemed actor his initial Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe. In addition to “Star Wars,” the decade of the ’70s found Jones portraying author Alex Haley in the seminal 1977 miniseries “Roots” and 1979’s sequel, “Roots: The Next Generations.”
Later memorable roles came with his evil Thulsa Doom in 1982’s “Conan the Barbarian,” King Jaffe Joffer for 1988’s “Coming to America,” and 1989’s “Field of Dreams” where he played ’60s activist author Terence Mann who becomes involved with Kevin Costner’s Ray Kinsella in a baseball fantasy adventure. Directed by Phil Alden Robinson, “Field of Dreams” earned three Oscar nominations including Best Picture and has since become a nostalgic sports movie classic.
He also co-starred as the commanding Admiral Greer in 1990’s “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games” (1992) and “Clear and Present Danger” (1994). In 1994, he lent his rumbling voice to noble Mufasa for Disney’s animated movie “The Lion King.”
Jones’ dozens of TV appearances and guest-starring gigs included “Sesame Street,” “Highway to Heaven,” “Touched by an Angel,” “Frasier,” “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” “Stargate SG-1,” “House,” “The Simpsons,” “Everwood,” “Picket Fences,” “Homicide: Life on the Street,” and “The Big Bang Theory.”
James Earl Jones is survived by his son, Flynn Earl Jones.
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