Renowned actor James Earl Jones, celebrated for his countless film roles and his powerful voice as Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” series, has passed away. He was 93 years old.
Jones died on Monday morning at his home in Dutchess County, New York, surrounded by his family, according to his longtime agent Barry McPherson.
An Icon Passes Away
With a career spanning over six decades, Jones’s commanding voice brought the iconic villain Darth Vader to life. He earned three Tony Awards, including a lifetime achievement award in 2017, two Emmy Awards, and a Grammy. The Academy Awards honored him with a lifetime achievement award in 2011.
Early Life
Born in 1931 in Mississippi, Jones faced a significant challenge in his early years due to a severe stutter.
“People would come to the house, and there’d be introductions, but I couldn’t introduce myself,” he shared with PBS in 2014, describing how severe his speech impediment was. Jones said he often remained silent for long periods.
“I found it was, oh, so good sometimes because silence isn’t bad. It’s good to listen. And I learned to listen,” Jones told PBS.
Jones’s struggle with a stutter ultimately led him to acting, thanks to a high school teacher who used poetry to help him improve his speech. After college and serving in the Army during the Korean War, Jones set his sights on Broadway as a gateway to theater and the arts.
Early Acting Career
During the 1950s and ’60s, Jones became a mainstay on Broadway. He appeared in productions like “On Golden Pond” and “The Best Man,” earning four Tony nominations and winning two — first for “The Great White Hope” in 1969 and later for “Fences” in 1987.
At the same time, he was also making a name for himself on television. The eventual two-time Emmy Award winner received his first nomination in the 1960s for his work on “East Side/West Side.”
In 1991, he won two Primetime Emmys: one for Best Supporting Actor in the miniseries “Heat Wave” and another for Best Actor in the series “Gabriel’s Fire.” In 2000, he also won a Daytime Emmy for his role in the children’s special “Summer’s End.”
Jones earned his first Academy Award nomination in 1970 for his role as boxer Jack Jefferson in the film adaptation of “The Great White Hope.” He became only the second Black actor to receive an Oscar nomination, following Sidney Poitier, who was recognized in 1958 and 1963.
Star Wars
Throughout the 1970s, Jones continued to balance his work across stage, television, and film. In 1977, he was chosen to voice the role of a new villain, Darth Vader, in the sci-fi epic “Star Wars: A New Hope.”
Although bodybuilder David Prowse physically portrayed the Sith Lord, it was Jones’s voice that delivered many of the film’s most memorable lines, including “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” In the 1980 sequel “The Empire Strikes Back,” Jones delivered one of cinema’s most famous lines: “No, I am your father,” revealing the truth to Luke Skywalker.
Jones remained modest about his role as the voice of such a legendary villain.
“I’m just a special effect,” he told the American Film Institute in 2009, referring to his work voicing a character physically portrayed by another actor. “George [Lucas] wanted, excuse the expression, a darker voice, so he hired a guy born in Mississippi, raised in Michigan, who stutters. That’s the voice — that’s me. I lucked out. With all these so-called handicaps, I managed to get a job that paid $7,000, and I thought that was great money.”
In the 2004 documentary “Star Wars: Empire of Dreams,” Jones reflected on when he first learned that Darth Vader, the saga’s main antagonist, would be revealed as the long-lost father of the hero, Luke Skywalker.
“I thought to myself, ‘He’s lying,'” Jones confessed. “I wondered how they were going to make that lie work.”
Other Iconic Roles
But it wasn’t a lie. From 1977 to 1983, the three original “Star Wars” films became some of the most groundbreaking and revered movies of their time, known not just for their special effects but also for their surprising plot twists and thematic depth.
Following “Star Wars,” Jones delivered memorable performances in Eddie Murphy’s 1988 comedy “Coming to America” and starred alongside Kevin Costner in “Field of Dreams” in 1989. A few years later, he lent his iconic voice to another beloved character, Mufasa, in Disney’s animated feature “The Lion King.”
According to IMDb, Jones amassed nearly 200 acting credits over a career spanning more than 60 years. His work included films like “The Sandlot,” TV shows such as “House” and “The Simpsons,” and a return to the “Star Wars” universe in 2004’s “Revenge of the Sith.” He continued to voice Darth Vader in recent years for the animated series “Rebels,” the films “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (2016) and “The Rise of Skywalker” (2019), and the Disney+ series “Obi-Wan Kenobi” in 2022.
Jones also reprised his role in the sequel “Coming 2 America” in 2021.
In 2011, Jones received an honorary Academy Award recognizing the breadth and impact of his acclaimed career.
James Earl Jones Theatre
While starring in “Driving Miss Daisy” in London that same year, Jones was surprised by co-star Vanessa Redgrave, who announced his honor to the audience at the end of the show. A special ceremony was held on stage, where Sir Ben Kingsley presented Jones with his Oscar.
“If an actor’s nightmare is being onstage naked and not knowing his lines, what do you call this?” he said of the unexpected honor. “How do I feel? More than flabbergasted… that’s the only word I can think of for this improbable moment in my life.”
In March 2022, it was announced that Broadway’s Cort Theatre would be renamed the James Earl Jones Theatre in his honor.
Jones was married twice. His second wife, Cecilia Hart, passed away in 2016 after 34 years of marriage. He is survived by their son, Flynn Earl Jones.