James Earl Jones, one of the greatest actors of our generation has passed away at the age of 93. Jones played or voice some of the most iconic roles in movie, theater and TV history. Jones was born in 1931 in Mississippi. When he was 5 Years old a traumatic upheaval gave him a stutter, and his fear of speaking rendered him almost mute until high school when his poetry teacher helped him overcome the disability by reading his poems aloud.
Jones said of the teacher “he began to challenge me, to nudge me towards speaking again…towards acknowledging and appreciating the beauty of words”
Jones studied drama at the University of Michigan, and after a stint in the Army, began performing in Shakespearean plays. His first movie role was as the bombardier in Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr Strangelove”. in 1967 he portrayed troubled boxer Jack Johnson in the play “The Great White Hope” which won him a Tony award. He reprised the role in the film and became the 2nd African American Man after Sidney Poirtier, to receive a nomination for the academy awards.
In 1977 He played 2 of the greatest and different characters on film and TV. He played the role of Alex Haley in the miniseries Roots, and voiced the Greatest Villain in the Galaxy “Darth Vader”, a role that was uncredited and he was only paid $7,000. Of course he would reprise the role of Vader, in The Empire Strikes Back, The Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Episode 3:Revenge of the Sith, Rogue 1 and Rise of Skywalker.
He also played King Jaffe Joffer, the King of Zamunda in Coming to America and Coming 2 America. He played Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian, and Admiral James Greer in the Jack Ryan movies. He played Writer Terrance Mann in Field of Dreams and Mufasa in various Lion King movies. Here is his speech from Field of Dreams, which is one of the best ever put to film.
A cause of Death has not been released.
thanks to CNN for their report https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/09/entertainment/james-earl-jones-death/index.html
