James Earl Jones, the man behind voice for the ages, dies at 93

The legendary actor, who voiced Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” franchise and Mufasa in “The Lion King,” left an indelible legacy in the world of entertainment.

Noted for his iconic deep, resonant baritone, James Earl Jones was a giant on stage and on screen. 

Jones’ career spanned more than six decades; he was described as “one of America’s most distinguished and versatile” actors. He was among a small group of performers to have an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony (EGOT). Among his award-winning performances included a role in Howard Sackler’s play “The Great White Hope,” which was loosely based on the life of the first Black American boxing heavyweight, Jack Johnson.   

Yet, it was his distinctive voice — described in the Washington Post as “a stirring basso profundo that has lent gravel and gravitas” —  that set him apart. Younger generations will recognize his voice as that of Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” franchise and Mufasa in “The Lion King.”   

The celebrated star died at age 93 on Monday, Sept. 9 at his home in Dutchess County, New York, Deadline reports.

But Jones’ voice will live on for all the world to hear. Every day, his baritone carries the words, “This is … CNN.”

Overcoming the odds

Jones was born on Jan. 17, 1931, in Arkabutla, Mississippi. His father Robert Earl Jones was a boxer, butler and chauffeur, while his mother Ruth was a teacher and maid. The couple separated just before his birth. Robert left to pursue his own acting career, performing both on stage and in film. (Father and son would not meet and reconcile until the 1950s.)

From the age of 5, Jones’ grandparents raised him on a farm in rural Michigan, which had been in the family since Reconstruction. The move to Michigan proved to be traumatic and he developed an incapacitating stutter. At a young age, he chose not to speak and once said in an interview, “my first year of school was my first mute year, and then those mute years continued until I got to high school.” 

Jones’ English teacher, Donald Crouch, helped him overcome his challenges and end his years of silence through poetry. Crouch encouraged Jones to read poems aloud to his class. Soon, Jones was competing in high school debates and oratorical contests, winning a public speaking contest during his senior year. 

Jones also earned a scholarship to the University of Michigan, where he hoped to pursue medicine. Yet drama and theater had grabbed his attention and he soon changed his focus. He graduated in 1953 with a degree in drama and served two years as a U.S. Army Ranger during the Korean War. 

Following his military stint, Jones moved to New York to pursue acting, studying at the American Theater Wing with famed theater director and actor Lee Strasberg. To make ends meet he worked as a janitor, polishing floors. 

Broadway debut

Jones made his Broadway debut in two small roles. The first was as an understudy in the 1957 Lloyd Richards-directed play, “The Egghead” and the following year he had a featured role in Dore Schary’s “Sunrise at Campobello.” He would subsequently perform in several Shakespearean plays, including “Othello,” “Hamlet,” “Coriolanus” and “King Lear.” 

In the 1960s, Jones caught the attention of critics and audiences, earning critical praise and awards for his work in numerous off-Broadway plays. In 1961, he joined an ensemble of unknowns to perform in outspoken French playwright Jean Genet’s “The Blacks.” The provocative play also starred Cicely Tyson, Maya Angelou, Louis Gossett Jr., Roscoe Lee-Browne, Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques and Charles Gordone. The following year, he performed in the “Moon on a Rainbow Shawl” for which he won several awards. He won the Obie for best actor for his performance in “Clandestine on the Morning Line.” In 1965, he earned two Obies for his work in “Othello” and for Bertolt Brecht’s “Baal.” 

In 1968, he won his first Tony Award for his critically acclaimed performance in “The Great White Hope.” He reprised the role in the 1970 film version, earning an Oscar nomination for best actor. 

Making his mark in film and TV

Over the next few decades, Jones would not only make his mark in theater but also in film and television. His film debut was in 1964 as Lt. Lothar Zogg in “Dr. Strangelove.” 

Overall, he appeared in more than 70 movies and television series combined. Among his most memorable were his portrayal of Alex Haley in the television series, “Roots II,” and his role as a South African Anglican priest in the film, “Cry, the Beloved Country.” He also had the recurring role of Admiral Greer in film series based on Tom Clancy novels, “The Hunt for Red October” (1990), “Patriot Games” (1992) and “Clear and Present Danger” (1994). 

In 1991, he became the first actor to win two acting Emmys in the same year:  best actor in a drama series for his role in “Gabriel’s Fire” and best supporting actor for the television film, “Heat Wave.”   

Jones received the National Medal of Arts for his service to American culture in 1992. His Screen Actors Guild (SAG) peers honored him in 2009 with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Two years later, he received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, technically making him one of the few EGOT recipients. 

In 2017, Jones was given a Special Tony Award for lifetime achievement in the theater.

He is survived by his son Flynn, whom he shared with wife and actress Cecilia Hart. Hart passed away from ovarian cancer in 2016.

Recommended Stories

!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“has-featured-video”,”true”)})}(); ( () => { ( ( cb ) => { window.tpd = window.tpd || {}; if ( true === tpd.cmpReady ) { console.log( ‘[TPD][Brid] CMP was already ready, running player.’ ); cb(); return; } let tpdCmpReadyListener = () => { console.log( ‘[TPD][Brid] CMP ready event fired, running player.’ ); window.removeEventListener( ‘tpd:cmpCb’, tpdCmpReadyListener ); cb(); }; window.addEventListener( ‘tpd:cmpCb’, tpdCmpReadyListener ); } )( () => { let s = document.createElement( ‘script’ ); s.src = ‘https://player.target-video.com/player/build/targetvideo.min.js’; s.async = true; let target = document.getElementById( ‘Brid_21904’ ); target.parentElement.insertBefore( s, target ); window._bp = window._bp || []; window._bp.push( {“div”:”Brid_21904″,”obj”:{“id”:”41122″,”width”:”1280″,”height”:”720″,”stickyDirection”:”below”,”playlist”:”21904″,”slide_inposition”:”.widget_tpd_ad_widget_sticky”}} ); } ); } )();