Prolific TV, film and theater actor James Earl Jones, widely known as the actor and voice of Star Wars villain Darth Vader has died at the age of 93. Variety has confirmed that the actor died on Monday morning at his home in Dutchess County, N.Y.
Jones has been considered as one of the pioneering Black actors of his generation. With a career spanning across six decades, Jones had his start in Broadway in 1958. Most recently, he appeared in 2021’s Coming 2 America where he reprised his role of King Jaffe Joffer from the original 1988 comedy with Eddie Murphy. Other iconic roles include lending his baratone voice to play King Mufasa in Disney’s animated feature The Lion King in 1994 and appearing as CIA deputy director Vice Admiral James Greer in three Jack Ryan movies. Jones starred in Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 Cold War satire Dr. Strangelove in his debut feature film.
Throughout his career, he was nominated for four Tony Awards, winning two, nominated for one Oscar and eight primetime Emmy Awards and also winning two of them. He earned a Kennedy Center Honor in 2002 as well as a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement award in 2009, an honorary Oscar in 2011 and a lifetime achievement Tony Award in 2017. He also won a Grammy award in 1977 for his spoken word album. With his most famous role being the actor and voice of Darth Vader, Jones recently authorized Lucasfilm to use both AI technology and archival recordings to recreate the character’s voice. His legendary career saw him touch audiences across platforms from Broadway to the big screen. Jones is survived by his son Flynn Earl Jones.
