James Earl Jones, Esteemed EGOT Winner and Iconic Voice of Darth Vader, Dead at 93

Kate Erbland
·7 min read
8

James Earl Jones is dead at the age of 93. Deadline first reported he died the morning of September 9, which IndieWire has confirmed. The distinguished EGOT winner, esteemed star of stage and screen, and iconic basso profondo voice of Darth Vader enjoyed a remarkable, decade-spanning career that found him playing a slew of iconic characters in film, TV, and theater. Jones’ credits ranged from Othello to Malcolm X, Santa Claus, Ebenezer Scrooge, King Lear, and one of the famous villains of all time in “Star Wars.”

While he did not win a competitive Academy Award during his career, he received an Honorary Academy Award in 2011, granting him vaunted “EGOT” status. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1985, was presented with the National Medal of the Arts by President George H. W. Bush in 1992, and received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2002.

More from IndieWire

In 2009, he received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. In 2017, he received both an Honorary Doctorate of Arts degree from Harvard University and was honored with a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. In 2022, it was announced the Cort Theatre would be renamed the James Earl Jones Theatre.

Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, on January 17, 1931, to Ruth and Robert Earl Jones. The future actor’s father left the family shortly after his birth to try his hand at acting, and the elder Jones later became one of Hollywood’s first prominent Black actors, playing a wide array of roles on both stage and screen. The father and son, however, did not reconnect until the 1950s, after young Jones was raised by his maternal grandparents, John Henry and Maggie Connolly on their farm in Jackson, Michigan. Jones’ transition to living with his grandparents proved to be difficult for the youngster, and he developed a stutter that was so profound that he didn’t speak for entire years. In high school, a beloved English teacher realized Jones’ gift for writing and encouraged the young man to read his poetry aloud in the hopes of easing his stutter. It worked.

Still, Jones’ early academic ambitions didn’t include acting or writing; though he enjoyed performing in local theater before he set out for college, he first attended the University of Michigan as a pre-med major, later joining the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. While Jones took to the structure of military life, he soon realized that medical school was not the correct choice for him. Soon, he turned his attention to drama at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He graduated in 1955. Jones notably first portrayed Othello that same year, at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan.

While Jones expected to be sent to fight in the Korean War, he was not commissioned until 1953, after the war had ended. Still, he reported to Fort Benning to attend the Infantry Officers Basic Course. He also attended Ranger School, where he qualified as a Ranger. Later, he was was promoted to first lieutenant, before being discharged from the Army.

With his undergraduate and military obligations behind him, Jones moved to New York City, where he studied at the American Theatre Wing. In 1957, he made his Broadway debut as the understudy to Lloyd Richards in Molly Kazan’s “The Egghead,” which only ran for 21 performances. The next year, Jones created the featured role of Edward the butler in Dore Schary’s “Sunrise at Campobello” at the Cort Theatre.

The early ’60s were marked by a string of major stage roles for Jones, including a hefty dose of Shakespeare, with lead performances in everything from “Othello” to “King Lear.” And while Jones was soon viewed as one of the preeminent Shakespearian actors of the time, his interest in expanding his oeuvre was clear even then: In 1964, he made his film debut in Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”

Throughout the rest of the decade, the actor continued to work across mediums, including his first turn in Howard Sackler’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “The Great White Hope,” which earned him both a Tony and a Drama Desk Award for his portrayal of the boxer Jack Jefferson, based on real-life athlete Jack Johnson. The same year he won his first Tony, Jones was associated with another legendary launch, as he starred in early short films that would go on to become “Sesame Street.”

By 1970, Jones’ onscreen stardom was on the rise, as he returned to his “Great White Hope” role for a film version of the lauded play for his first leading film role. The film earned Jones his first and only competitive Academy Award nomination, making him only the second African-American male performer after Sidney Poitier to be nominated for Best Actor (he lost out to George C. Scott for his work in “Patton”).

Despite further film and television work, theater remained a priority for Jones, who starred in “The Iceman Cometh,” “Of Mice and Men,” and “King Lear” throughout the ’70s.

In 1977, Jones took on the role that would make him an icon to a new swath of fans: voicing Darth Vader in George Lucas’ “Star Wars: A New Hope.” While David Prowse portrayed the evil Jedi in the films, with his face obscured by iconic helmet, and even provided the character’s voice in early cuts, Lucas balked at his West Country accent and swapped in Jones. He continued played the role throughout his career and across a variety of films, TV shows, and other projects. While he may have never said, “Luke, I am your father” — the actual line is “No. I am your father.” — Jones’ turn as the fallen warrior and Skywalker papa became arguably his most quotable and recognized.

Never one to settle, however, Jones continued to work on stage and screen after “Star Wars” became a bonafide hit. In 1979, he even starred in a short-lived CBS police drama called “Paris,” Steven Boccho’s TV debut, and later that year took on a key role in the miniseries “Roots: The Next Generations.”

In the ’80s, Jones established himself as one of theater’s preeminent August Wilson performers, including his 1987 turn in the play “Fences,” which earned him his second Tony. Still, Jones was a hot ticket for films of all stripes during the blockbuster-mad decade, and he appeared in everything from “Conan the Barbarian” to “Field of Dreams,” “Coming to America,” and John Sayles’ “Matewan,” which earned him an Indie Spirit nom.

By the ’90s, Jones’ on-screen persona had transitioned to reliable stalwart supporting star, in films like “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games,” and “Cry, the Beloved Country.” His iconic voice also led him to another key role as beloved lion king Mufasa in the animated smash hit “The Lion King.” In 1992, he won his two Primetime Emmys in the same year: one for Best Actor in “Gabriel’s Fire,” the other for Best Supporting Actor in “Heat Wave.” The actor’s stage cachet only seemed to increase as he grew older. In the aughts alone, he appeared in productions of “Driving Miss Daisy,” “The Best Man,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “You Can’t Take It with You,” and “The Gin Game.”

While Jones’ productivity slowed in recent years, he returned for a number of stints as the voice of Darth Vader in a variety of “Star Wars” projects, including “Star Wars Rebels,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” He also reprised his role as Mufasfa for Jon Favreau’s remake of “The Lion King,” released in 2019. In 2021, Jones appeared in his final role, reprising his role as King Jaffe Joffer from the 1988 hit comedy “Coming to America” in its sequel, “Coming 2 America.”

In 1968, Jones married actress and singer Julienne Marie. The pair met while performing in “Othello” in 1964 and divorced in 1972. Ten years later, he married actress and “Paris” co-star Cecilia Hart. They remained married until Hart’s death from ovarian cancer in 2016. In April 2016, Jones publicly revealed his two-decade-long battle with type 2 diabetes.

Jones is survived by his son with second wife Cecilia Hart, voice actor Flynn Earl Jones, born in 1982.

Best of IndieWire

Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next