- Stars of the screen are mourning the death of James Earl Jones, the voice of Star Wars villain Darth Vader, on Monday at the age of 93.
- Jones, who also voiced King Mufasa in Disney’s animated feature The Lion King, had a prolific career.
- Rustin star Colman Domingo wrote on social media that Jones was “a master of our craft”.
Stars of the screen are mourning the death of James Earl Jones, the voice of Star Wars villain Darth Vader, on Monday at the age of 93.
Jones, who also voiced King Mufasa in Disney’s animated feature The Lion King, had a prolific and varied career.
Over six decades, he worked with some of the greatest figures in cinema and theatre, including Stanley Kubrick in his 1964 Cold War satire Dr Strangelove.
He also had roles in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Conan The Barbarian and the 1989 Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams.
But it was for his role as one of cinema’s most famous villains that he became most widely known.
While Darth Vader’s immense physicality was the result of the towering British actor David Prowse, the sinister voice that appeared to emanate from inside the reconstructed man-in-a-mask was that of Jones.
READ | James Earl Jones: Stage legend, voice of Darth Vader dead at 93
And it was Jones who gave the Star Wars franchise some of its most memorable lines, including when he reveals to Luke Skywalker – played by a young Mark Hamill – “I am your father.”
Hamill took to social media on Monday to share news of Jones’ death, writing simply: “#RIP dad” with a broken heart emoji.
Rustin star Colman Domingo wrote on social media that Jones was “a master of our craft”.
“We stand on your shoulders. Rest now. You gave us your best.”
Lydia Cornell, whose 1982 debut Blood Tide, was opposite Jones, said: “Oh no!! I can’t believe it!! I thought he was going to live forever.”
“Adored working with him. Such a generous spirit and so humble. Taught me the power of stillness and using my voice.”
Selma Director Ava DuVernay posted images of Jones, accompanied by a heartfelt message.
“Thank you for showing us ourselves. Our complicated selves, our dignified selves, our smiles, our pain. A job well done. A gift beautifully shared. Bless you as you journey on.”
Alongside a clip of Jones’ 1974 film, Claudine, she urged fans to seek it out if they have never seen it.
“Mr Jones crying in a scene of this film is one of the most exquisite cinematic images of a Black man I’ve ever seen. Don’t miss it. He gave us so much,” she wrote.
The Help star Octavia Spencer posted a black and white photograph of Jones, alongside a tribute that nodded to his indelible role in Star Wars.
“Legendary doesn’t even begin to describe his iconic roles and impact on cinema forever,” she wrote.
“His voice and talent will be remembered always. Sending love to his family, friends and countless fans in all the galaxies, far, far away.”
A legacy left behind
Jones won three Tony awards including a lifetime award, two Emmys and a Grammy, as well as an honorary Oscar, also for lifetime achievement.
In 1971, he became only the second Black man nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, after Sidney Poitier.
All of these accolades were hard-won, as Jones, who was born in segregated Mississippi on 17 January 1931, had to overcome a childhood stutter that often led him to barely speak at all.
American actor James Earl Jones behind a microphone in a recording studio, Hollywood, California, 10 July 1991. (Edmund Eckstein/Getty Images)
“Stuttering is painful. In Sunday school, I’d try to read my lessons and the children behind me were falling on the floor with laughter,” Jones told the Daily Mail in 2010.
Reciting his own poetry at the prodding of an English teacher helped him to gain control of his voice.
Broadway
From Mississippi, Jones moved to Michigan at age five, where he was raised by his maternal grandparents.
Initially, he studied to become a doctor, and though he shifted his major to drama, and graduated from the University of Michigan, he didn’t initially think about an acting career.
“Even when I began acting studies, I thought about being a soldier,” Jones told PBS public television in 1998.
“And the idea of being an actor didn’t occur to me until after my service was almost finished.”
After university, Jones served in the US Army and then moved to New York to try his luck in acting, working as a janitor at night to make ends meet.
James Earl Jones and Mark Hamill attend the 2017 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on 11 June 2017 in New York City. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
He made his Broadway debut in 1958 in Sunrise at Campobello at the Cort Theatre – which in 2022 was renamed the James Earl Jones Theatre.
He tackled many iconic Shakespeare characters on the stage, including Othello and King Lear, but also performed in several Wilson plays, chronicling the Black experience in America.
“On stage, Jones was commanding, powerful. He embodied the elegance and dignity of African American men,” said director Kenny Leon.
But the silver screen eventually came calling.
Admirals and kings
Military roles would crop up throughout his career, notably Admiral Greer in three films about Tom Clancy’s beloved character Jack Ryan (The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger).
As for kings, he has played a few – King Jaffe Joffer in the Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America (1988) and Mufasa, Simba’s father, in The Lion King (1994).
His first major award came in 1969, a Tony for best actor in a play for The Great White Hope, in which he portrayed troubled but gifted boxer, Jack Jefferson – based on the real-life Jack Johnson, the first Black world heavyweight champion.
James Earl Jones, recipient of an honorary Doctor of Arts degree, is pictured at the Harvard University commencement in Cambridge, MA on 25 May 2017. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Jones revived the role in a film adaptation of the play – earning his sole Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe award for the performance.
Even into his 80s, Jones was a force on Broadway, starring opposite Angela Lansbury in The Best Man in a 2012 revival – earning another Tony nomination in the process – and with Cicely Tyson in The Gin Game in 2015.
And for years, he greeted viewers of the cable news network CNN with the simple phrase: “This is CNN.”
‘Darker voice’
But his most famous role was ultimately the one for which he never appeared on screen.
Lucas eventually chose between Jones and film legend Orson Welles for the role.
“George thought he wanted a – pardon the expression – darker voice. So he hires a guy born in Mississippi, raised in Michigan, who stutters and that’s the voice and that’s me,” Jones told the American Film Institute in 2009.
Jones initially did not want to be credited for the film, as he felt his voiceovers were simply part of the movie’s special effects, but eventually conceded, and went on to voice the character in multiple films, television series and video games.
In his 90s, he stepped back from the role. But he signed over the rights to his voice recordings to a start-up that is working with Lucasfilm to preserve and recreate it for future projects using artificial intelligence.
The technology was used in the Disney+ mini-series Obi-Wan Kenobi in 2022, according to Vanity Fair.
Jones’ second wife Cecilia died in 2016. They had one son.