James Earl Jones, Emmy Winner and Voice of Darth Vader, Dead at 93
Veteran actor James Earl Jones, whose distinct voice made him a staple of film and television, died Monday morning at his home in Dutchess County, N.Y. He was 93.
His reps at Independent Artist Group confirmed the news to our sister site Deadline. TVLine has reached out to IAG for confirmation.
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The actor is perhaps best known as the voice of Darth Vader throughout the Star Wars franchise. In addition to voicing the iconic villain in both the original trilogy and prequel films, Jones also lent his voice to the animated series Star Wars Rebels and the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. His voice was most recently featured in the Disney+ limited series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Respeecher technology was used to digitally synthesize Jones’ voice, for the helmeted Darth Vader.
Jones got his start in theater working on many Shakespeare productions like Othello, King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Measure for Measure and Hamlet. In 1982, he starred in the August Wilson play Fences, which earned the actor his second Tony Award for Best Actor.
On the small screen, he appeared in daytime soaps such as Guiding Light and As the Word Turns. Notable TV credits also include the mini-series Roots: The Next Generations, playing DA Horace McCoy in a 1993 episode of Law & Order, playing the narrator in 3rd Rock from the Sun, Homicide: Life on the Street, 1995’s Under One Roof, The Simpsons, Everwood, and playing himself in a 2014 episode of The Big Bang Theory.
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In 1964, Jones made his film debut in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. His lengthy film career also includes playing Malcolm X opposite Muhammad Ali (as himself) in 1977’s The Greatest, 1982’s Conan the Barbarian, Field of Dreams, Patriot Games, The Sandlot, and voicing Mufasa in the animated film The Lion King as well as its sequel The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride and the 2019 remake starring Beyonce? and Donald Glover. He also played King Jaffe Joffer in Coming to America (a role he reprised in the 2021 sequel Coming 2 America.
Over his more than 60-year career, Jones won numerous accolades including three Tony Awards, a 1977 Grammy for Best Spoken Word Recording for Great American Documents, a Daytime Emmy, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and an Honorary Oscar in 2011.
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