James Earl Jones is synonymous with class, gravitas and depth. His performances have earned him three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Grammy. You know his iconic voice from such great performances as the villain Darth Vader in Star Wars, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, The Sandlot, and Field of Dreams. He acted as Vader in the three original Star Wars films, five more follow-ons and two Star Wars series. On Broadway, he performed in Fences, On Golden Pond, The Best Man, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Driving Miss Daisy. His Shakespeare performances included Othello, King Lear, Hamlet and Coriolanus. Before any of his Hollywood or Broadway success, Jones joined the U.S. Army as an officer and served during the Korean War. He even attended and graduated from Ranger School, so he has his Ranger Tab. A rare feat for anyone, especially a sci-fi villain or the father of Simba, as he played Mufasa in The Lion King.
Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, in 1931 and had difficulty with speech because of a stutter. He initially attended college to be a doctor in pre-med but changed his major to theater. He attended the University of Michigan and joined ROTC. Jones took a keen liking to the military and spent time with the Pershing Rifles Drill Team and Scabbard and Blade Honor Society with his fellow cadets. His major was drama at school and he found that being a doctor was not in his plans. He was commissioned in the Army in 1953 and was stationed at Fort Benning (Fort Moore), then went on to Ranger School and joined the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 38th Regimental Combat Team. He eventually spent time at Camp Hale, a closed site in Leadville, Colorado. He left the Army as a First Lieutenant and graduated college in 1955 with a BA.
His career took off in the mid-to-late 1950s with theater and radio work. He made his Broadway debut in 1957 in The Egghead which ran for 21 performances. He continued his stage work in the 1960s and found his way into film with his first feature role as a bomber pilot in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. He got to work with Hollywood heavyweights of their time in The Comedians with Richard Burton, Liz Taylor and his later Star Wars on-screen enemy Alec Guinness (who would play Obi-Wan). He even did some test films for Sesame Street in the late 1960s and he had the highest-rated test screening for audiences. In 1970 Jones did his first leading film role in the screen adaptation of The Great White Hope and it earned him his first Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of boxer Jack Johnson. Jones then got to act in a Rod Serling film titled The Man in which he plays a senator who becomes the first African American President.
Kathleen Ballard, Los Angeles Times.
In 1977, Jones was cast in his likely biggest and most worldwide role known to date as the hostile, near unstoppable yet not without hope, Darth Vader in Star Wars. He only played the voice as David Prowse played Vader on screen in costume. Jones was not credited for the first two films and then was listed in the credits for all Star Wars films and projects post-Return of the Jedi in 1983. During this period Jones starred in Roots: The Next Generation and in a police drama, Paris on CBS. He enjoyed further success in big 1980s projects such as Fences on Broadway, which is an August Wilson play, Conan the Barbarian with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Coming to America with Eddie Murphy, the baseball fantasy film Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner and Matewan. From the 1990s to present day, Jones continued his upward climb into Hollywood and Broadway legend status. He played the memorable and tough Admiral Greer in Tom Clancy films The Hunt for the Red October, Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games. He portrayed Mufasa in Disney’s The Lion King in 1994 and reprised the role in the 2019 CGI version. He was the only original cast member from the 1994 version to be in the newest one. He was the voice of CNN for a period and starred in a large number of guest spots on top shows such as Frasier, Law & Order, The Simpsons, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, Everwood, House, M.D. and Will & Grace.
Jones was married to Julienne Marie for a period in which he had met her on stage during his work on Othello. His most recent wife Celcilia Hart, whom he had a son with named Flynn, passed in 2016. Jones struggled with Type-2 diabetes for 20-plus years of his life since the mid-1990s. He retired from acting two years ago in 2022 with his final role being Darth Vader in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney. He passed away this morning at the age of 1993 at his home in Pawling, NY. He left a legacy of great roles, a positive role model in which to follow and overcoming challenges in his life. He will be missed.