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Biography

James Earl Jones, Titan of the Screen and Stage, Dies at Age 93

Biography.com Editors, Catherine Caruso
7 min read
james earl jones smiles at the camera, he wears a suit jacket, turtleneck, and wire rimmed glasses
James Earl JonesGetty Images

1931-2024

James Earl Jones News: Actor Dies at Age 93

James Earl Jones, the acclaimed actor known for his roles in Star Wars and The Lion King, died in his home in Duchess County, New York, on September 9. The cause of death hasn’t yet been disclosed. The 93-year-old honorary EGOT winner is survived by his son, Flynn Earl Jones.

Who Was James Earl Jones?

James Earl Jones was a Tony-, Emmy-, and Grammy-winning actor with a long list of successful movies and plays. Known for his deep, booming voice—most memorably captured as Darth Vader in the Star Wars film franchise—Jones developed a severe stutter as a child that he overcame during his high school years. He won Tony Awards for his lead performances in The Great White Hope and Fences. In 1991, the actor made history as the first to win two Emmy Awards in the same year for dramatic work. His Grammy Award recognized his contribution to the educational recording Great American Documents. Jones died in September 2024 at age 93.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: James Earl Jones
BORN: January 17, 1931
DIED: September 9, 2024
BIRTHPLACE: Arkabutla, Mississippi
SPOUSES: Julienne Marie and Cecilia Hart (1982-2016)
CHILD: Flynn
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn

Young James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931, in Arkabutla, Mississippi. His father, Robert Earl Jones, a boxer and actor, was largely absent from his life growing up. From an early age, James was raised by his maternal grandparents in Mississippi before moving with them to Michigan. He was of African, Cherokee, Choctaw, and Irish descent.

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James developed a severe stutter in childhood, which left him terribly self-conscious and shy around other children. He generally didn’t speak until a teacher helped him out of his silence during his high school years. “I had a great English teacher who believed in language,” Jones later told The Hollywood Reporter. “And he looked at a poem I wrote and said, ‘It’s too good for you to have written, so to prove you wrote it, please stand up in front of the class and recite it from memory.’ And I did it without stuttering. So he used that as a program to get me to talk.”

As a University of Michigan student, Jones intended to study medicine but soon discovered acting. After college, he served in the military during the Korean War then returned to his passion of performing once he finished his service.

Moving to New York City, Jones studied at the American Theatre Wing and eventually took on the stage name Todd Jones for a little while, inspired by a childhood nickname. He found a job as a janitor to make ends meet during the early days of his career and got to know his father, who was then working in the dramatic arts as well.

Filmography and Stage Work

Jones made his Broadway debut in the late 1950s in the play Sunrise at Campobello. For several years, he took on a variety of roles for stage, television, and film. Jones was active in the Shakespeare in the Park program and appeared in one of its first productions in 1962. Two years later, he gave a tremendous performance as the title character in Othello, a role he revisited numerous times.

East Side/West Side and Dr. Strangelove

In 1963, Jones picked up his first Emmy Award nomination for his performance on the TV show East Side/West Side. The following year, he played Lieutenant Lothar Zogg in Stanley Kubrick’s war satire Dr. Strangelove, starring Peter Sellers and George C. Scott. During the mid-’60s he also starred in two soaps, Guiding Light and As the World Turns, portraying doctors.

The Great White Hope

On the stage, Jones had a career breakthrough in 1968: He starred as boxer Jack Jefferson (a character based on real-world fighter Jack Johnson) in the Broadway drama The Great White Hope. The performance brought him his first Tony Award. He also starred in the 1970 film version of the play, for which he received an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe.

Of Mice and Men and Fences

Continuing to work in theater, Jones appeared in numerous Broadway productions during the 1970s and ’80s. He had starring roles in such productions as the 1974 revival of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and the 1978 two-man show Paul Robeson. In 1987, Jones won his second Tony Award for his work in the August Wilson drama Fences.

Darth Vader in Star Wars

Jones also continued with his screen work, sharing the lead with Diahann Carroll in the 1974 dramedy Claudine as well as portraying author Alex Haley in the acclaimed 1977 miniseries Roots and its 1979 sequel The Next Generations.

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Famous for his distinctively deep and rich oration, Jones began one of his most iconic movie roles in the late 1970s: providing the voice of Darth Vader in George LucasStar Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983).

Coming to America and The Hunt for Red October

On the big screen, Jones often played strong, authoritative characters. He portrayed the villain Thulsa Doom in 1982’s Conan the Barbarian, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and later portrayed a king to Eddie Murphy’s prince in 1988’s Coming to America. Jones then took on the role of an admiral in 1990’s The Hunt for Red October. He reprised this part in Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). Also in 1994, he lent his commanding voice to the character of Mufasa for the blockbuster animated movie The Lion King.

Historic Emmy Wins

james earl jones stands and smiles as he raises two emmy trophies on either side of him, he wears a black tuxedo with a black vest
James Earl Jones was the first actor to win two Emmy Awards for drama roles in the same year.Getty Images

Jones thrived on TV as well, winning a pair of Emmy Awards in 1991 for his leading role on the dramatic series Gabriel’s Fire and his supporting role on the miniseries Heat Wave. He thus became the first actor to win two Emmys in the same year in the drama category. On Gabriel’s Fire, which ran from 1990-91, he starred as a former cop who was released from prison after being convicted of murder.

Jones tried his hand at series TV again in 1995 with the short-lived drama Under One Roof. He also made guest appearances on such shows as Touched by an Angel, Frasier, Stargate SG-1, The Simpsons, Everwood, and The Big Bang Theory, among other programs.

On Golden Pond, Cat On a Tin Roof, and The Gin Game

Remaining an in-demand actor well into the 21st century, Jones continued to juggle a variety of stage and screen roles. In 2005, he earned another Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a play for his work on On Golden Pond. (Leslie Uggams co-starred in the production.)

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Three years later, he played Big Daddy in the revival of the Tennessee Williams’ classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, co-starring Terrence Howard, Anika Noni Rose, and Phylicia Rashad. Then, in 2010, Jones co-starred with fellow legend Vanessa Redgrave in the Broadway production of Driving Miss Daisy. More productions followed, including The Best Man (2012), You Can’t Take It With You (2014), and The Gin Game (2015), with the latter co-starring fellow Tony winner Cicely Tyson.

The Best Man and Gimme Shelter

In 2012, Jones earned his fourth Tony nomination for his performance in the revival of The Best Man, penned by Gore Vidal. Around this time, he again appeared on the big screen with Vanessa Hudgens and Rosario Dawson in the 2013 drama Gimme Shelter, and co-starred with Peter Dinklage and Mila Kunis in the dramatic comedy The Angriest Man in Brooklyn.

Over the years, Jones received many accolades for his contributions to the arts, including a Kennedy Center Honor in 2002 and an honorary Academy Award in 2011. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bestowed the award to Jones for “his legacy of consistent excellence and uncommon versatility.” The Oscar made Jones a noncompetitive EGOT winner.

Memoir

In 1993, Jones published the memoir Voices and Silences, which looks at both his career and early family life.

Wife and Son

Previously married to actor Julienne Marie, with whom he co-starred in Othello, Jones wed Cecilia Hart in 1982 and was married to her until her death in 2016. The couple had one son, Flynn Earl Jones.

Quotes

  • When you wake up in the morning, before you look in the mirror, do you see an ethnicity? I don’t—and if I did, I’d be in trouble, because that has blinded me to who I might really be. Even waking up seeing myself as a male blinds me to who I might really be.

  • I have no regrets and no misgivings. Actors take chances, but there’s always something good about them, and we learn something from them.

  • Why are people embarrassed about elderly sex? I hate it when I’m given a script in which the guy’s wife is dead. That’s just an easy way to dispense with having sex. Audiences don’t want to see Big Daddy and Big Mama in bed—but I like to talk about it.

  • If you were to compare a movie with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, actors handled dialogue very crisply, very assuredly, and with pace. Today, you get a lot of whispering. I don’t understand where that came from and why we do that, why directors encourage it or allow it.

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