by Mick the Ram

One of the most unmistakable voices of stage and screen, actor James Earl Jones, has died. He passed away on 9 September, surrounded by his loving family, at the age of 93.

In nearly 200 screen credits, spread across a brilliant 60-year career, he was probably best known for his reverberative vocalism, spoken in his distinctive gravelly tone, of Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” movies.

He also starred in classics such as: “Field of Dreams”, “Coming To America”, “Conan the Barbarian” and three Jack Ryan films; as well as being the voice of Mufasa, in Disney’s: “The Lion King”.

Additionally, he was recognisable for his “This is CNN” tag-line for the cable news channel and even made guest appearances on TV favourites, such as: “The Simpsons” – as show where he featured on three separate occasions.

Jones won a host of awards including: Emmys, Tonys, a Grammy and an honorary Oscar.

No cause yet released

The sad news was delivered by his agent, Barry McPherson, confirming that he passed away at his home in Dutchess County, N.Y, although the actual cause of death was not given.

Stammer could have denied the world one of the greats

Jones was born in 1931 on a farm in Arkabutla, Mississippi, but at the age of five he moved with his maternal grandparents to Michigan.

The shock of the relocation is thought to have been responsible for inducing a stammer, which became so severe that he often could only manage to communicate through the written word.

However, with the assistance of his high school English teacher he gradually overcame his stutter and he quickly changed his early interest in medicine to that of drama, which would see him go on to established himself as one of the pioneering Black actors of his generation.

Theatre renamed in his honour

He found a love for the theatre, with his acting debut on Broadway coming in 1958 at the Cort Theatre – which was renamed as the James Earl Jones Theatre in 2022, in recognition of the talents, which saw him become a box office draw.

Although he made his feature film debut in Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 Cold War satire “Dr. Strangelove” in 1964, he remained one of Broadway’s best-kept secrets.

That was until his 1968 performance in “The Great White Hope” as he starred as Jack Johnson – the first Black man to win the world heavyweight boxing championship – for which he won a Tony.

Highly decorated

He was nominated for eight primetime Emmy awards, winning twice in 1991, and also earned a Kennedy Center Honour in 2002, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement award in 2009, an honorary Oscar in 2011 and a lifetime achievement Tony Award in 2017, which meant he became only one a handful of actors to receive the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony).

Role revisits

Over the years he revisited many of his roles in sequels, including: King Jaffe Joffer from “Coming to America” the voice of King Mufasa in “The Lion King”, and CIA deputy director Vice Admiral James Greer, in three Jack Ryan movies: “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger.”

Plus of course, that of his most famous of all – Darth Vader, one of cinema’s best known villains and the role which James Earl Jones became synonymous with.

Mark Hamill, who played Vader’s son Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars”, posted “RIP Dad” with a broken heart emoji, upon hearing the sad news of the death.

The voice

It is the characteristic voice that will stay with most people and that was a fact acknowledged by the then president, George W Bush back in 2002, when he said: “People say that the voice of the president is the most easily recognized voice in America; well, I’m not going to make that claim in the presence of James Earl Jones.”

The actor is survived by his son, Flynn Earl Jones.