James Earl Jones Passes Away at 93
Independent Artist Group has announced the passing of acting great James Earl Jones. Jones passed at his home in Dutchess County, New York, at the age of 93 after a long and respected acting career. James Earl Jones starred in Field of Dreams, The Sandlot, Conan the Barbarian, and much more. His first onscreen role was Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, and he became just as well known for his voice work as Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in The Lion King. But James Earl Jones had a robust career on Broadway as well, starring in shows like The Great White Hope and Fences. In some ways, stage acting is even more impressive than film and TV acting; the performer had to get it right over and over live rather than having numerous takes to tackle a scene one time. Jones was the first actor to win two Emmys in one year and a holder of the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony). Jones also received an honorary Oscar in 2011 and a Lifetime Achievement Tony in 2017. Ever gracious, this is what James Earl Jones said when accepting the 2011 Oscar: “You cannot be a cinema actor and conduct your career like I’ve done and not end up in some of the worst movies ever committed to celluloid… Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you deeply honored, mighty grateful, and just plain gobsmacked.”
Jones’s myriad achievements seem all the more impressive given that he was raised by his grandparents and developed a stutter at the age of 5 after a traumatic move. Jones even pretended to be mute as a child to avoid the embarrassment. When asked to read a poem to the class in high school, Jones found he could memorize words in advance to avoid stuttering. As a senior in high school, he won a public speaking contest and got a scholarship to the University of Michigan. He went there to study medicine but found a love of acting. There, he made his debut in a Manistee, Michigan community theater production before leaving to serve in the Korean War. When Jones was discharged, he moved to New York and made his Broadway debut in Sunrise at Campobello, Dory Schary’s Tony winner for best play. Jones’s father, Robert Earl Jones, who appeared in The Sting despite being blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee, offered him this advice:
“If you want to do this business, you gotta do it because you love it, not because it’s gonna make you rich or famous. That was the best advice he could give me.”
Jones also became the second black man (after Sidney Poitier) to be nominated for a best actor Oscar. Jones was paid $7,000 to voice Darth Vader, but he never mentioned that it was his voice until Return of the Jedi.
I always liked James Earl Jones; I never remember not enjoying a performance of his. I feel like Darth Vader and Mufasa are obvious choices to bring up, but I also have fond memories of him playing Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian and reclusive author Terence Mann (based on The Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger) in Field of Dreams. Thulsa is a fun, goofy villain role, while still allowing Jones to show his onscreen magnetism. I love Field of Dreams from watching it with my dad as a kid. I need to re-watch it, but I liked Jones’ character’s arc of rediscovering happiness. It’s hard to know what to say when such a cultural icon passes away; even if you somehow haven’t watched James Earl Jones, you’ve heard him. So many of our great artists are passing away. I understand how aging works, but it’s sad all the same.
RIP James Earl Jones, January 17, 1931- September 9, 2024
