Darth Vader's voice, star of The Lion King was 93

James Earl Jones, the successful film, television and theater actor whose rich, distinctive baritone voice was best known as the voice of the “Star Wars” villain Darth Vader, died Monday morning at his home in Dutchess County, NY, his spokesman confirmed to Diversity. He was 93.

After overcoming a severe stutter as a child, Jones established himself as one of the pioneering black actors of his generation, building a rich and varied career that has spanned more than 60 years, from his 1958 Broadway debut at the Cort Theatre — renamed the James Earl Jones Theatre in 2022 — to his most recent appearance in 2021's “Coming to America 2.” For this film, Jones reprised his role as King Jaffe Joffer from the 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy “Coming to America” ​​– one of several roles Jones reprised alongside Darth Vader, including the voice of King Mufasa in Disney's 1994 animated film “The Lion King,” its 1998 direct-to-video sequel, and its 2019 remake, as well as that of Deputy CIA Director Vice Admiral James Greer in three Jack Ryan films, “The Hunt for Red October” (1990), “Patriot Hour” (1992) and “The Cartel” (1994).

Jones' other notable film roles include the role of a B-52 bombardier in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 satire Dr. Strangelove (his feature film debut), the role of the first black president of the United States in The Man (1972), the role of a fearsome villain in Conan the Barbarian (1982), the role of a reclusive author in Field of Dreams (1989), the role of a blind former baseball star in The Sandlot (1993), and the role of a pastor in apartheid South Africa in Cry for the Country (1995).

Jones was nominated for four Tony Awards, winning two: in 1969 for his role as boxer Jack Johnson in “The Great White Hope” (he reprised the role as a movie star in 1970, earning his only Oscar nomination), and in 1987 for his role as Troy Maxson in August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Fences.” He was nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards, winning two: in 1991 for supporting actor in the miniseries “Heat Wave,” about the 1965 Watts riots, and for lead actor in the drama series “Gabriel's Fire,” about a wrongfully imprisoned ex-cop who becomes a private investigator. It was the first time an actor won two Emmys in the same year.

Jones received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2009, an Honorary Academy Award in 2011, and a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2017. With his 1977 Grammy Award for his spoken word album, Jones is one of only a handful of actors to receive an EGOT.

Jones' menacing but ultimately affable presence and rich speaking voice made him a natural for Shakespeare, and he played some of the big roles, such as Macbeth and Othello, at Joseph Papp's American Shakespeare Festival. Jones narrated several documentaries, from 1972's “Malcom X” to the 2007 Disneynature documentary “Earth,” and he famously intoned the cable news channel's slogan “This is CNN.”

His more than 70 television appearances include numerous films and miniseries such as “Roots” and “The Atlanta Child Murders,” recurring roles on “LA Law,” “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Everwood,” and guest roles on shows such as “The Simpsons,” “Picket Fences,” “Law & Order,” “Frasier” and “Dr. House.”

For his most famous role, Jones was paid $7,000 to voice Darth Vader in Star Wars: A New Hope (1977). However, out of respect for the actor who played the role on screen, David Prowse, he declined to be credited for that film and its sequel, The Empire Strikes Back (1980). By Return of the Jedi (1983), however, Jones had become synonymous with and received credit for one of the most memorable and fearsome villains in film history. He voiced Vader again for Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), but for the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022), Jones instead authorized Lucasfilm to use archival footage and AI technology to recreate Vader's voice.

When The New York Times asked him in 2014 how he had kept his career alive for so long, his answer reflected the unabashed modesty that he so often brought to his performances.

“The secret is to never forget that you are an experienced actor and that nothing is the last, nothing is the greatest and nothing is the worst,” Jones said. “I still consider myself a beginner.”

James Earl Jones was born on a farm in Arkabutla, Mississippi, in 1931. His father, Robert Earl Jones, left home soon afterward to pursue his own acting career (the two more or less reconciled when the younger Jones was in his twenties, and they even performed together). When Jones was five, he moved to Michigan with his maternal grandparents. The shock of the move caused a stutter so severe that he was often only able to communicate in writing. It was not until high school that he began to overcome his stutter, when his English teacher, learning that Jones wrote poetry, encouraged him to read his texts aloud in class.

As a student at the University of Michigan, Jones initially planned to study medicine, but eventually became more interested in acting. His first stage role was a small part in the 1957 off-Broadway production of Wedding in Japan. He took on part-time jobs to supplement his occasional theater work, including appearances in Sunrise at Campobello, The Cool World, and The Pretender on Broadway. He also performed in summer theater.

In 1960, Jones participated in Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. The following year, he made his first big impression in a groundbreaking off-Broadway production of Jean Genet's The Blacks as the protagonist Deodatus. He then played Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream for Papp, the first of many acclaimed Shakespeare roles. His masterful 1964 performance of Othello for Papp transferred to off-Broadway, where the production ran for nearly a year.

Jones' first big break in the movies came in Papp's production of The Merchant of Venice, in which Jones played the Prince of Morocco opposite George C. Scott's Shylock. When Stanley Kubrick visited Scott, whom he was considering for a lead role in Dr. Strangelove, the film director was so impressed that he cast Jones in the film as well. In 1966, Jones played the title role in Macbeth at the New York Shakespeare Festival, again to great acclaim. He also landed a recurring role on As the World Turns in 1966, which was the first time a black actor had a permanent role on a soap opera.

Still, he was almost one of Broadway's best-kept secrets until 1968, when he played Jack Johnson, the first black man to win the world heavyweight boxing championship, in Howard Sackler's The Great White Hope. The Tony, the recognition and the timing of the awards in the late '60s catapulted Jones into the spotlight at a time when it was difficult for black actors to land quality roles. The actor has said, however, that the recognition he received for both the play and the film adaptation didn't do much for his career.

It wasn't until 1977, when Jones' voice as Darth Vader first terrified audiences, that things really started to change for him. That same year, Jones also appeared in ABC's Roots, playing author Alex Haley, whose genealogical novel of the same name inspired the groundbreaking miniseries. He never really became a star in the traditional sense of the word, but back-to-back successes that year ultimately made Jones a household name, his presence lending projects a stature and authority they might otherwise have lacked.

It was in the theater that Jones was most often a box office draw, and that continued into his 80s. In 2005, he returned to Broadway to direct opposite Leslie Uggam's On Golden Pond, for which he was again nominated for a Tony. In 2008, he played Big Daddy in an all-black production of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starring Terrence Howard, Anika Noni Rose and Phylicia Rashad.

Two years later, he returned to Broadway to revive Driving Miss Daisy, opposite Vanessa Redgrave. The production's move to London in 2011 meant he had to miss the honorary Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles. Instead, Sir Ben Kingsley personally surprised Jones with his statuette after a matinee performance of the show.

Jones' first marriage was to actress and singer Julienne Marie. His second wife, actress Cecilia Hart, with whom he was married for 34 years, died in 2016. He leaves behind his son Flynn Earl Jones.