James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of theater and the Seventh Art, has died at the age of 93. He lent his voice to famous characters such as Mufasa or Darth Vader.
James Earl Joneslegendary American voice actor, has died at the age of 93, as confirmed by his agent, Barry McPherson. Jones died Monday morning at his home in New York’s Hudson Valley region.
The pioneer Jones, who in 1965 became one of the first African-American actors in a continuing role in a daytime drama (‘As the World Turns’) and worked well into his 80s, won two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammythe National Medal of Arts and Kennedy Center Honors. Also received a Oscar honorary and a special Tony for his career. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.
In his old age, he had an elegant figure, a wry sense of humor and a fierce work habit. In 2015, she arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway performance of ‘The Gin Game’ having already memorized the play and with notebooks full of comments from the creative team. She said that she always It was at the service of the work.
“The need to tell stories has always been with us,” he told The Associated Press at the time. “I think it first happened around campfires, when the man came home and told his family that he had caught the bear, but the bear hadn’t caught him.”
From Darth Vader to Mufasa
Jones created memorable film roles as the reclusive writer who was coaxed back into the spotlight in ‘Field of Dreams’, boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and film hit ‘The Great White Hope’, writer Alex Haley in ‘Roots: The Next Generation’ ‘ and a South African minister in ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’ or ‘Conan the Barbarian’.
He was also a sought-after voice actor, voicing the evil of Darth Vader (“No, I am your father”, commonly mistakenly remembered as “Luke, I am your father.”), as well as the benign dignity of King Mufasa in both the 1994 and 2019 versions of Disney’s ‘The Lion King.’
Numerous professional colleagues have wanted say goodbye to the renowned interpreteras has been the case with Mark Hamill.
Jones made his Broadway debut in 1958’s ‘Sunrise At Campobello’ and would win his two Tony Awards for ‘The Great White Hope’ (1969) and ‘Fences’ (1987). He was widely recognized for his mastery of Shakespeare and Athol Fugard alike. As theater and television actor Rising, he performed with the New York Shakespeare Festival Theater in ‘Othello,’ ‘Macbeth,’ and ‘King Lear,’ and in off-Broadway plays.
From not speaking and stuttering to becoming one of the best voice actors
Jones was born by the light of an oil lamp in a hut in Arkabutla, Mississippion January 17, 1931. His father, Robert Earl Jones, had abandoned his wife before the baby’s arrival to pursue a life as a boxer and, later, an actor. When Jones was 6 years old, his mother took him to his parents’ farm near Manistee, Michigan. His grandparents adopted the boy and raised him.
“A world ended for me, the safe world of childhood,” Jones wrote in his autobiography ‘Voices and Silences’. “The move from Mississippi to Michigan was supposed to be a glorious event. For me it was a disappointment, and soon afterward, stopped to stutter“.
Too ashamed to speak, remained practically silent for yearscommunicating with teachers and fellow students with handwritten notes. A high school teacher, Donald Crouch, learned that the boy wrote poetry and demanded that Jones read one of his poems aloud in class. He did it without problems.
Teacher and student worked together to restore normal speech of the boy. “I never got tired of talking, debating, praying, acting,” he recalled in his book. At the University of Michigan, failed a premed exam and he moved into theater, also playing four seasons of basketball. He served in the Army from 1953 to 1955.
In New York, moved in with his father and enrolled in the American Theater Wing program for young actors. Father and son waxed floors to support themselves while they looked for acting jobs. The real one Stardom came suddenly in 1970 with ‘The Great White Hope’. Howard Sackler’s award-winning Broadway play Pulitzerdepicted the struggles of Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion, amid the racism of early 20th century America. In 1972, Jones reprized his role in the film version and was nominated for an Oscar as best actor.
Las two wives Jones had were also actresses. In 1967 he married Julienne Marie Hendricks. After her divorce, he married Cecilia Hart, best known for her role as Stacey Erickson on the CBS crime drama ‘Paris,’ in 1982 (she died in 2016). They had one son, Flynn Earl, born in 1983.
“You can’t think of an artist who has served America more,” director Kenny Leon told the AP agency. “It seems like a small act, but it’s a huge action. It’s something we can look up to and see that is tangible.”
ADVERTISINGCiting his stutter as one of the reasons he was not a political activist, Jones nevertheless he hoped his art could change minds. “I realized early on, from people like Athol Fugard, that you can’t change anyone’s mind no matter what you do,” he told the AP. “As a preacher, as a scholar, you can’t change their opinion. But you can change their way of feeling.”
