Legendary STAR WARS, LION KING Actor James Earl Jones Dies
By Movieguide® Staff
James Earl Jones, the legendary actor behind iconic voices such as Darth Vader and Mufasa, died on Monday. He was 93.
“He passed this morning surrounded by his loved ones,” his representative, Barry McPherson, said Monday. “He was a great man.”
Jones was born Jan. 17, 1931, in Arkabutla, Mississippi. Growing up, he suffered from a severe stutter, and NBC reported that he was a “shy and quiet child, wary of speaking and drawing attention to his speech impediment.”
His life changed when an English teacher in high school helped him overcome the stutter.
“I [could] now say things that great writers wrote. I would never have thought of it myself,” Jones told TODAY.
His passion for acting began at the University of Michigan in 1955, and his career took off in 1970 with the Broadway play “The Great White Hope.”
From there, he rose to greater prominence as Darth Vader in STAR WARS: EPISODE IV – A NEW HOPE in 1977, appearing in several of the subsequent STAR WARS movies.
In 1994, he voice Mufasa in the beloved Disney movie THE LION KING. He would later reprise the role in 2019’s Teddy Bear Award® nominated remake of the same name.
He won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards throughout his career on screen and on the stage.
STAR WARS creator George Lucas remembered Jones as both a great actor and a good person.
“For nearly half a century he was Darth Vader, but the secret to it all is he was a beautiful human being. He gave depth, sincerity and meaning to all his roles, amongst the most important being devoted husband to the late Ceci and dad to Flynn,” he said. “James will be missed by so many of us…friends and fans alike.”
Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in STAR WARS, posted, “One of the world’s finest actors whose contributions to Star Wars were immeasurable. He’ll be greatly missed. #RIP dad 💔”
Keep Jones’ family and friends in your prayers as they mourn his death.
