Legendary Star Wars, Lion King Actor James Earl Jones Dead At 93

James Earl Jones, venerable actor and legendary on-screen voice, has died (via Deadline). He was 93 years old.

We'd be hard-pressed to find a single person who doesn't recognize the beloved Jones from his voice, particularly when it intones touchstone culture phrases like, "No, I am your father," (Darth Vader in "Star Wars") or "Everything the light touches is our kingdom" (Mufasa, Simba's father from Disney's "Lion King"). Jones, who came from a poor Mississippi family who moved to Michigan, and who grew up a chronic stutterer (oh irony of ironies), as he states in an interview with ABC News on YouTube, wound up being selected by George Lucas to be Darth Vader's voice over Vader's suit-wearing bodybuilder, David Prowse (who passed away in 2020). Before then, Jones worked in television in small roles, per IMDb, and on stage. "Star Wars," though, proved to be the breakout role that made everything Jones subsequently touched — stage, big screen, small screen, voice booth — his own.

Over the course of his career, including early acclaimed work in the play "The Great White Hope," and funny turns in films like "Coming to America," Jones won numerous Tony, Emmy, Oscar, and Grammy awards, including Tony and Oscar lifetime achievement awards, per Achievement.

Born in 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi, James Earl Jones grew up in a poor farming family held together by his grandfather and mentor, "Papa," as he states in the aforementioned interview on YouTube. There was little in the way of food except whatever the family grew, and the only luxuries afforded him were sugar during "rationing time." 

Jones' deep, emotionally bright inner world — apparent on his face when he talks — developed during his childhood, when until high school he essentially couldn't speak because his stutter was so bad. "'I resigned to it as a kid ... I became a non-verbal person, I became a writer. I enjoyed being quiet — a lot of people didn't bother me or probe me, it was a nice place to be," Stamma quotes. One of Jones' teachers helped him overcome his stutter by insisting that he read his poetry out loud to the class. 

The military played a big role in Jones' early life, as well, and proved a turning point for him. He enrolled in pre-med at the University of Michigan after his family moved to Detroit, switched to drama, graduated in 1955, and joined the military through his university's ROTC during the Korean War, as Military says. His battalion stayed domestic, in Colorado, where Jones was promoted to first lieutenant before choosing to pursue his dream of working in theater on being discharged. If it didn't work out, he figured, he could just reenlist.

As befits Jones, the stage is where he really shined. According to the American Repertory Theatre, Jones starred in numerous productions over his life, including "Othello, "Hamlet," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "Driving Miss Daisy," "You Can't Take It With You," and "The Gin Game," and received Tonys for his performances in "The Great White Hope" and "Fences" (folks might recognize the last title from its 2016 film adaptation starring Denzel Washington). He also worked in films such as "Field of Dreams" and "Conan the Barbarian," per Notable Biographies, received a National Medal of Arts, the John F. Kennedy Center Honor, and an honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2011. In his later life, he once again contributed his signature voice to newer "Star Wars" films, 2019's "The Lion King" CG remake, and also spoke at universities such as Nova Southeastern University in Florida.  

Jones was married twice during his life, first to Julianne Marie, whom he met while performing Othello in the 1960s, per Biography, and then to Cecilia Hart in 1982. Jones and Hart remained married for 34 years until she tragically died in 2016 from ovarian cancer, as Hollywood Reporter says. They had one child together, Flynn, whom Jones is survived by.