Vale – James Earl Jones
EGOT-winning actor, voice artist and Hollywood legend James Earl Jones, the man behind such legendary characters as Darth Vader and The Lion King’s Mufasa, has passed away aged 93.
It’s impossible to mention James Earl Jones’ impact on modern cinema history without mentioning perhaps his career defining role, the evil Sith Lord Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy. Voicing the iconic role, delivering perhaps the most classic line in all of geek fandom – “No, Luke. I am your father” has gone on to become a cultural touchstone for so many Gen-Xers and beyond, and a pivotal point in the science fiction lexicon as Vader unmasks himself as the biological father of the series’ young hero, Luke Skywalker. Jones would voice the character throughout innumerable spin-offs and sequels, prequels and games, his deep bass voice personifying the hollowed-out malevolence of the now-fallen Anakin Skywalker, lost to the Dark Side.
James Earl Jones’s career in the entertainment industry isn’t only voicing galactic villains however – overcoming his childhood stutter, and a veteran of the US military, Jones was a noted stage actor, appearing in his first role in 1957 and essaying turns in numerous Shakespeare productions, including Othello, Hamlet and King Lear. Stage success came with the role of Jack Jefferson in the stage play written by Howard Sackler, “The Great White Hope”, about a boxer dealing with racism, social pressures and sporting expectations, and his performances on stage would earn him a Tony Award in 1968, for Best Actor. Jones would return to the role in the 1970 film adaptation to a number of award nominations, including both the Academy Award and Golden Globes.
Jones would make his film debut in 1964’s Stanley Kubrick black comedy Dr Stangelove, as a bombardier on a mission to drop a nuclear bomb, and would appear alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan The Barbarian, playing the evil Thulsa Doom, opposite rising comedy star Eddie Murphy in Coming To America (1988), and in perhaps his most memorable non-Star Wars on-screen role, alongside Kevin Costner in baseball drama Field Of Dreams, playing controversial author Terence Mann. In 1994 he would provide a voice for Disney’s animated feature The Lion King, playing Mufasa, the tragic father to the titular character.
Other film credits include an enormous number of supporting roles, including a recurring turn as Admiral James Greer in Hollywood’s Tom Clancy film adaptations – The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger. Due to his deep, warm-throated voice, Jones was often cast in roles of authority or reverence, including a Judge in Sommersby, a religious figure in Cry The Beloved Country, or as a narrator in a number of documentary films through the decades. He would reprise the role of Mufasa in the Disney animated sequels, and again in the 2019 live-action adaptation for director Jon Favreau.
Mr Jones received two Primetime Emmy Awards – for both Heat Wave and Gabriel’s Fire in 1991, four Tony Awards (his second was for the role of Troy Maxson in Fences, a role played by Denzel Washington in his recent film adaptation), and won a Grammy Award for “Best Spoken Word”, for the 1977 recording of Great American Documents. His Oscar was an Honorary Bestowment, as a Lifetime Achievement award, in 2011.
James Earl Jones passed away on September 9th, at his home in New York State, aged 93.
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