James Earl Jones, beloved actor and voice of Darth Vader, dies
(NEXSTAR) — James Earl Jones, well known for his roles in “Field of Dreams,” “The Lion King,” “Star Wars,” and more, has died. He was 93.
Jones died Monday morning surrounded by his family, his representatives confirmed to Nexstar’s KTLA. He was at his home in New York, according to Deadline, which first reported his death.
A cause of death was not immediately released.
Jones’ first acting credit dates back to 1966 when he appeared in the television series “Guiding Light,” according to his IMDb page. His extensive résumé also includes roles in out-of-this-world films and shows, on baseball diamonds, and overseeing the animal kingdom.
- NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 11: James Earl Jones accepts the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre onstage during the 2017 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 11, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
- Actor James Earl Jones is shown recording an audio segment for Disney during a special event in Pawling, New York on July 10, 2019. (Photo by John Atashian/Getty Images)
- CAMBRIDGE, MA – MAY 25: James Earl Jones, recipient of an honorary Doctor of Arts degree, is pictured at the Harvard University commencement in Cambridge, MA on May 25, 2017. (Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
- NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 12: Presenters Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones speak onstage during the 70th Annual Tony Awards at The Beacon Theatre on June 12, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
- NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 14: Actor James Earl Jones attends the “The Gin Game” Broadway opening night after party at Sardi’s on October 14, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images)
The pioneering Jones, who worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.
He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of “The Gin Game” having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.
“The need to storytell has always been with us,” he told The Associated Press then. “I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn’t get him.”
Broadway theater renamed in honor of James Earl Jones
Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in “Field of Dreams,” the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit “The Great White Hope,” the writer Alex Haley in “Roots: The Next Generation” and a South African minister in “Cry, the Beloved Country.”
He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader (“No, I am your father,” commonly misremembered as “Luke, I am your father”), as well as the benign dignity of King Mufasa in Disney’s animated “The Lion King” and announcing “This is CNN” during station breaks. He won a 1977 Grammy for his performance on the “Great American Documents” audiobook.
“If you were an actor or aspired to be an actor, if you pounded the payment in these streets looks for jobs, one of the standards we always had was to be a James Earl Jones,” Samuel L. Jackson once said.
In 2022, Jones was said to be “winding down” as the voice of Darth Vader, a role he had held for decades.
Some of his other films include “Dr. Strangelove,” “The Greatest” (with Muhammad Ali), “Conan the Barbarian,” “Three Fugitives” and playing an admiral in three Tom Clancy blockbuster adaptations — “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger.” In a rare romantic comedy, “Claudine,” Jones had an onscreen love affair with Diahann Carroll.
Jones made his Broadway debut in 1958’s “Sunrise At Campobello” and would win his two Tony Awards for “The Great White Hope” (1969) and “Fences” (1987). He also was nominated for “On Golden Pond” (2005) and “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man” (2012). He was celebrated for his command of Shakespeare and Athol Fugard alike. More recent Broadway appearances include “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “The Iceman Cometh,” and “You Can’t Take It With You.”
As a rising stage and television actor, he appeared in “As the World Turns” in 1965, becoming one of the first African American actors in a continuing role in a daytime drama. He performed with the New York Shakespeare Festival Theater in “Othello,” “Macbeth” and “King Lear” and in off-Broadway plays.
Jones was born by the light of an oil lamp in a shack in Arkabutla, Mississippi, on Jan. 17, 1931. His father, Robert Earl Jones, had deserted his wife before the baby’s arrival to pursue life as a boxer and, later, an actor.
When Jones was 6, his mother took him to her parents’ farm near Manistee, Michigan. His grandparents adopted the boy and raised him.
“A world ended for me, the safe world of childhood,” Jones wrote in his autobiography, “Voices and Silences.” “The move from Mississippi to Michigan was supposed to be a glorious event. For me it was a heartbreak, and not long after, I began to stutter.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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