James Earl Jones, the award-winning actor known for his deep, commanding voice who brought to life characters from Mufasa to Darth Vader, has died at the age of 93. Deadline The report said Jones’ death was confirmed by his representatives at Independent Artist Group.
Jones’ film career began in a huge way when he starred opposite Peter Sellers, George C. Scott and Sterling Hayden in the 1964 classic Dr. Strangelove, in which he helped drop the bomb on which Slim Pickens famously rode:
In 1970, he played the lead in The Great White Hope, an acclaimed drama for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor—he had previously won a Tony Award for leading performance in the play on which the film was based. He then received a Golden Globe nomination for the 1974 film Claudine.
Perhaps his most celebrated role, however, came a few years later: Darth Vader, the armored villain from the original Star Wars trilogy. The character was played by actor David Prowse, but in post-production, Jones’ voice was made heavier and more sinister, but Prowse’s voice was later found to be too thunderous by comparison. very good idea.
Star Wars star Mark Hamill paid tribute to Jones on Twitter:
More significant roles in film and television followed, as did numerous awards and accolades, and in the decades that followed he amassed an incredibly diverse array of credits, from Conan the Barbarian—Arnold Schwarzenegger’s breakthrough film in 1982—to the comedy hit The Prince of New York, the Oscar-nominated sports drama Field of Dreams, and the Tom Clancy hits The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. He also continued to provide significant voice work: reading Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” in the first Halloween special The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror, voicing Mufasa in Disney’s animated feature The Lion King, and, of course, famously saying:This is CNN.” He was also on Sesame Street.
And yes, there was work on video games there too. Jones has credits in multiple Lion King games, but he also lent his voice to the Grand Inspector of the Universe in Under a Killing Moon and is probably best known in the gaming industry as General James Solomon in Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun.
Ironically, despite having one of the most powerful and recognizable voices in any entertainment medium, Jones said in an appearance on Dick Cavett Show In 1995, he said he had a problem with this because he stuttered.
“I’m lucky that it’s come out in a way that I can talk to you now,” Jones said. “I have no pretensions or arrogance about my voice. You want to think that I could be in love with my voice. I’m not, because that would be the most unfaithful lover I’ve ever had, because it lets me down so often.
“Because I’m a stutterer… Having been a stutterer for so long in my formative years, I can’t have an impromptu conversation. I can’t be a master of ceremonies, for example. That’s impossible for me. I can’t connect ideas and words that well.”
At the same time, he wasn’t afraid to use the power of his most famous asset, but he also didn’t give the impression that he was inclined to take it too seriously.
James Earl Jones was 93 years ancient.
