James Earl Jones, the actor behind the voices of iconic characters in cinema such as Darth Vader from Star Wars and Mufasa from The Lion King, has sadly died at age 93. The news was announced late last night, confirming that he had passed away yesterday morning.
James Earl Jones, born in 1931, began acting in 1964 with his first breakout role in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. He would later go on to appear in over 80 movies and television shows throughout the decades, making notable appearances in 1982’s Conan the Barbarian, 1988’s Coming to America, 1989’s Field of Dreams and 1990’s The Hunt for Red October.
However, Jones made an impact on pop culture when he was cast as the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies. He later received praise for his voice acting role as Mufasa in Disney’s 1994 animated movie, The Lion King, cementing his two most iconic roles in his career. Throughout his career in Hollywood, Jones would receive three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award and an Honourary Academy Award in 2011.
James Earl Jones continued to be the voice of Darth Vader in several Star Wars projects including video games like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. He returned to the role in 2016’s Star Wars prequel, Rogue One. Jones’ last project was for 2022’s Disney TV show, Obi-Wan Kenobi, where he voiced Darth Vader for the last time (Hayden Christensen reprised his role as the face of Anakin Skywalker).
Jones had a long and successful career in Hollywood, providing the voice for two of the most iconic characters in fiction. He made quite an impact on pop culture.
Jones is survived by one son, Flynn, who he had with his late wife, actress Cecilia Hart.
Source: CNN
