James Earl Jones, the prolific film, television and stage actor best known for his distinctive baritone voice as the villain Darth Vader in “Star Wars,” died Monday morning at his home in Dutchess County, New York, his representative confirmed. diverse. He was 93 years old.
After overcoming a severe stutter as a child, Jones established himself as one of the leading black actors of his generation, amassing a prolific and diverse career spanning more than 60 years, from his Broadway debut in 1958 at the Cort Theatre — renamed the James Earl Jones Theatre in 2022 — to his most recent performance in 2021 in “Coming 2 America.” For this film, Jones reprised his role as King Jaffe Joffer from Eddie Murphy's 1988 comedy Coming to America — one of several roles, besides Darth Vader, that Jones has reprised, including the voice of King Mustapha in Disney's 1994 animated film The Lion King , its 1998 sequel and its 2019 remake, and Deputy Director of the CIA Vice Admiral James Greer in three Jack Ryan films, 1990's The Hunt for Red October , 1992's Patriot Games , and 1994's Clear and Present Danger .
Among his more than 80 films, Jones' other notable roles include playing a B-52 bomber in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 Cold War satire Dr. Strangelove (his first feature film), the first black U.S. president in The Man (1972), a fearsome villain in Conan the Barbarian (1982), a reclusive author in Field of Dreams (1989), a blind former baseball star in The Sandlot (1993), and a minister living in apartheid South Africa in Cry of the Beloved Country (1995).
Jones was nominated for four Tony Awards, winning two, in 1969 for his portrayal of boxer Jack Johnson in The Great White Hope (which he reprised in the 1970 film, earning him his only Academy Award nomination), and in 1987 for his portrayal of Troy Maxson in August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Fences. He was nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards, winning two in 1991, for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Drama for Heat Wave, about the 1965 Watts riots, and Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Gabriel's Fire, about a wrongfully imprisoned ex-cop who becomes a private investigator. This was the first time an actor had won two Emmys in the same year.
Jones received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2002, the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009, an Honorary Oscar in 2011, and the Tony Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. His 1977 Grammy for his spoken word album makes Jones one of the few actors to receive an EGOT.
Jones had a strong, ultimately gentle presence and a rich voice that made him a natural fit for Shakespeare, playing some great roles, such as Macbeth and Otello, in Joseph Papp's American Shakespeare Festival. Jones narrated numerous documentaries, from the 1972 Malcolm X to the 2007 Disney Nature documentary Earth, and is known for singing the “This is CNN” catchphrase for the cable news channel.
His 70+ television credits include numerous films and miniseries such as “Roots” and “The Atlanta Child Murders,” recurring roles on “LA Law,” “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Everwood,” and guest roles on shows such as “The Simpsons,” “Picket Fences,” “Law & Order,” “Frasier” and “House.”
As for his most famous role, Jones was paid $7,000 to lend his voice to Darth Vader in 1977’s “Star Wars: A New Hope,” but declined screen credit for that film and its sequel, 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back,” out of respect for the actor who played the role on screen, David Bruce. By 1983’s “Return of the Jedi,” however, Jones had become synonymous with one of the most terrifying and memorable villains in cinematic history, and he received credit for his work. He returned to voice Vader again in 2005’s “Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” and 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” but for the 2022 Disney+ series “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Jones instead allowed Lucasfilm to use archival recordings and AI technology to recreate Vader’s voice.
When The New York Times asked him in 2014 how he kept his career alive for so long, Jones's response evoked the kind of candid humility that was often evident in his performances as well.
“The secret is to never forget that you are a skilled actor and that nothing is the last thing in your life, nothing is the greatest thing in your life, nothing is the worst thing in your life,” Jones said. “I still consider myself a beginner.”
James Earl Jones was born in 1931 on a farm in Archabbottla, Mississippi. His father, Robert Earl Jones, left home shortly after to pursue his acting career (the two nearly reconciled when the younger Jones was in his twenties, and they even acted together). When Jones was five, he moved with his maternal grandparents to Michigan. The shock of the move left him with a stutter so severe that he could often only communicate in writing. He did not begin to overcome his stutter until high school, when his English teacher learned that Jones wrote poetry and encouraged him to read his writing aloud in class.
As an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, Jones initially decided to study medicine, but eventually became interested in drama. His first stage role was a small part in the 1957 off-Broadway production of “A Wedding in Japan.” He worked side jobs to supplement the occasional Broadway revue of “Sunrise at Campobello,” “The Wonderful World,” and “The Pretender.” He also appeared in summer shows.
In 1960, Jones joined Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. The following year, he made his first serious impact in a prominent off-Broadway production of Jean Genet's The Blacks as the hero Deodatus. He then played Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the first of many acclaimed Shakespearean roles for which Papp was a star. His brilliant performance as Othello in Papp's 1964 production of Othello was transferred off-Broadway, where the production ran for nearly a year.
Jones' first big step into the film world was in the production of The Merchant of Venice, where Jones played the Prince of Morocco in George C. Scott's Shylock. When Stanley Kubrick came to see Scott, who was considering him for the lead role in Dr. Strangelove, the director was so impressed that he cast Jones in the film as well. In 1966, Jones landed the lead role in Macbeth at the New York Shakespeare Festival, again to great acclaim. He also had a recurring role in As the World Turns in 1966, marking the first time a black actor had a continuing role on a daytime television series.
Yet Jones was one of Broadway’s best-kept secrets until 1968, when he starred in Howard Sackler’s “The Great White Hope” as Jack Johnson, the first black man to win the world heavyweight boxing championship. The Tony Award, acclaim and timing in the late 1960s thrust Jones into the spotlight at a time when it was difficult for black actors to secure quality roles. The actor said, however, that the acclaim he received for the play and its film adaptation did little to advance his career.
Things didn’t start to turn around for Jones until 1977, when his voice first terrified audiences as Darth Vader. That same year, Jones also appeared on ABC’s “Roots,” playing author Alex Haley, whose novel of the same name inspired the groundbreaking miniseries. Jones never became a star in the classic sense of the word, but the successive hits that year eventually made Jones a household name, his presence adding prestige and gravitas to projects that might otherwise have lacked it.
Jones was often a box-office draw in the theater, even into his 80s. He returned to Broadway in 2005 for a production of “On Golden Pond” opposite Leslie Uggams, earning another Tony nomination. In 2008, he played Big Daddy in a production of Tennessee Williams' “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” that featured an all-black cast including Terrence Howard, Anika Noni Rose and Felicia Rashid.
Two years later he returned to Broadway in a revival of Driving Miss Daisy opposite Vanessa Redgrave; the production's move to London in 2011 meant he had to miss the honorary Oscars in Los Angeles. Instead, Sir Ben surprised Kingsley Jones with his statuette in person after he finished a matinee run of the show.
Jones was first married to actress and singer Julianne Marie. His second wife, actress Cecilia Hart, died after 34 years of marriage in 2016. He is survived by his son, Flynn Earl Jones.
