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To some, James Earl Jones is best known as the voice of Darth Vader in six of the Star Wars movies in order, among other projects. Others might think more about his live-action roles, like when he played Terence Mann in Field of Dreams. Regardless, Jones was an icon in the film and TV industry, which makes it all the more sad to share that he has died at the age of 93.
The actor’s representatives at Independent Artists Group confirmed his passing to Deadline. No cause of death was shared, but Jones died earlier this morning at his home in Duchess County, New York. He is survived by his son Flynn Earl Jones, whom he had his second wife, actress Cecilia Hart, who died in 2016.
Born on January 17, 1931, James Earl Jones got his start in acting by performing in various stage productions, which included Shakespearean works like Othello, King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet. Then in 1964, he made his theatrical debut playing Lt. Lothar Zogg in Dr. Strangelove, and that was followed three years later by The Comedians. Jones’ first TV credit was performing in an episode of East Side/West Side.
It was in the 1970s, though, that James Ear Jones’ public profile got some major boosts. In addition to voicing Darth Vader in Star Wars: A New Hope (more on that role later), he also played Alex Haley in both the original Roots miniseries and Roots: The Next Generation, and Balthazar in the TV serial Jesus of Nazareth, which starred Robert Powell as the title character. Looking to the 1980s, along with his aforementioned time performing opposite Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, as well as playing Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian, he acted alongside Eddie Murphy in Coming to America. They re-teamed over three decades later for Coming 2 America, which can be streamed with a Prime Video subscription.
Still, it’s probably safe to say that Darth Vader will be the character James Earl Jones is best known for, though the Sith Lord was physically portrayed by David Prowse in Star Wars’ Original Trilogy. In addition to his prominent participation in A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Jones later reprised Vader in Revenge of the Sith, Rogue One and The Rise of Skywalker, as well as five episodes of Star Wars Rebels, all of which can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription. In 2022, Jones authorized a deal with Lucasfilm for archival audio of his voice to be used to artificially create Darth Vader’s voice going forward, so the Vader dialogue heard in Obi-Wan Kenobi was synthesized by Respeecher.
Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention James Earl Jones’ other popular voice roles: Mufasa, Simba’s father, in both the original version of The Lion King and the 2019 “live-action” remake. We could spend all day talking about Jones’ career, but some other credits worth mentioning include The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, The Sandlot, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Frasier, Everwood and House, not to mention playing a fictional version of himself in The Big Bang Theory.
We here at CinemaBlend extend our condolences to James Earl Jones’ family and friends for their loss. He will be missed, and thankfully future generations will get to enjoy his film and TV work just like we have.