James Earl Jones Dies: Legendary ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Field of Dreams’ Actor Dead at Age 93
James Earl Jones, known for voicing Star Wars villain Darth Vader, died in his home in Dutchess County, New York, his rep confirmed to In Touch. He was 93.
The Missouri native, a rare recipient of the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony), was surrounded by family and is widely celebrated as one of the greatest stage actors both in the United States and internationally. He has received two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and three Tony Awards. Although the Field of Dreams star had not won a competitive Oscar, he was honored with an Honorary Academy Award presented by Sir Ben Kingsley in 2011.
The Broadway star is survived by his son, Flynn Earl Jones, whom he shares with his late second wife, Cecilia Hart. The pair — who married in 1982 — spent 34 years together before her death from ovarian cancer at age 68 in October 2016.
One year after her death, James paid tribute to his late wife in a heartfelt speech while accepting his Tony Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I want to thank my wife Ceci for being such a wonderful companion in my life and in my work,” he said at a pre-ceremony for the awards show in June 2017. “And, for being the great coproducer of our son, Flynn, and for being so dazzling on the red carpet.”
James is best known for his work in many iconic franchises, including Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in The Lion King, and went on to showcase his talents on the Broadway stage.
“I knew the voice had to be very, very special,” Star Wars director George Lucas said in 2015 at an American Theatre Wing gala honoring Jones. “It was a tough choice, but in the end, it was a really easy choice. It was really a choice between Orson Welles and James Earl Jones. James Earl Jones won hands down. He created, with very little dialogue, one of the greatest villains that ever lived.”
James was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the early 90s. The actor didn’t speak publicly about his diagnosis until nearly 20 years later, telling Good Housekeeping that he found out about diabetes by accident.
“I didn't notice any symptoms," he told the outlet in 2018. "I had gone to a diet and exercise program hoping to lose some weight and ended up falling asleep sitting on a bench in the gymnasium. My doctor, who happened to be there, said that's not normal. He encouraged me to go get a test, and I did — and there it was: type 2 diabetes. It hit me like a thunderbolt."
Recently, he returned to his role as King Jaffe Joffer in 2021's Coming 2 America and voiced Darth Vader once again in the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries on Disney. In September 2022, James announced that he would be stepping back from reprising his Star Wars role. He gave producers permission to use synthetic speech technology and AI to recreate his voice in future sequels.
Both fans and his Hollywood costars mourned the loss of the iconic actor. “One of the world’s finest actors whose contributions to Star Wars were immeasurable,” Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise, said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “He’ll be greatly missed.”