James Earl Jones dies at 93
James Earl Jones, a distinguished actor of stage and screen who was a convert to the Catholic faith, died Monday at age 93.
Known for lending his booming voice to such characters as Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” saga and Mufasa in “The Lion King,” Jones’ career spanned nearly seven decades.
He was one of the few entertainers, male or female, to have earned the coveted “EGOT” slate of acting awards: an Emmy (for TV), Grammy (for music), Oscar (for movies), and Tony (for the stage).
Born in poverty in Mississippi, James Earl Jones overcame a stutter early in life in part by discovering a gift for poetry. He joined the military after graduating from college, moving to New York after serving to pursue acting full time.
A prolific stage actor who became well known as a Shakespearean; Jones also entertained generations of moviegoers with dozens of roles. These included perhaps his most famous voice performances — the unimpeachable lion monarch Mufasa and the inimitable Sith menace Darth Vader — as well as memorable live-action appearances in “The Sandlot” and “Field of Dreams.”
James Earl Jones did not talk much about his Catholic faith but said in a 1987 interview that he converted to the faith during his time serving in the military. He said that while discerning whether to stay in the military or pursue his true passion — acting — the only things that he had in his life that were “not geared toward the art of killing” were his Catholic faith “and the complete works of Shakespeare.”
In 1985, he voiced Pharaoh in the first episode of Hanna-Barbera’s “The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible.” He also recorded an audio edition of the King James version of the New Testament.
His numerous and versatile roles over an illustrious 70-year career included the voice of Darth Vadar in “Star Wars,” beginning in 1977, and Mufasa in “The Lion King” (1994); a reclusive author in “Field of Dreams” (1989); and Admiral James Greer in three movies based on Tom Clancy novels including “The Hunt for Red October” (1990). He was also the dramatic voice behind CNN’s tagline “This is CNN.”
A convert to the Catholic faith as a young man, Jones wrote in 1993, “Perhaps my greatest honor came when I was asked to read the New Testament on tape,” pointing to an unabridged recording of the King James Version of the New Testament he made in the 1980s that TOPICS Entertainment remastered for CD in 2002.
“Even if he didn’t do this Bible and you said, ‘Whose voice sounds like God?’ — it would be James Earl Jones,” Greg James, TOPICS president, told The Seattle Times in 2006. “He just has such a beautiful, rich voice, it’s amazing.”
James Earl Jones passing coincided with the feast of St. Peter Claver, a patron saint of Black Catholics.
James Earl Jones was born in 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi, but as a child he moved to northern Michigan to live with his grandparents. His grandfather was a farmer with strong faith, who preached on Sunday mornings in a chapel he built for Jones’ grandmother.
His grandfather’s command of language and public speaking both impressed and intimidated the young Jones, who struggled with a stutter. “I could talk, all right. Our farm animals knew that. I found it easy to call the pigs, tell the dogs to round up the cows, and vent my feelings to Fanny, the horse whose big brown eyes and lifted ears seemed to express interest in all I said. But when visitors came and I was asked to say hello, I could only stand, pound my feet, and grit my teeth,” Jones recalled in a 1993 essay for Guideposts magazine.
When he was 14, a retired college professor began teaching at Jones’ school, and began to mentor the teen, who shared his love for poetry. He encouraged Jones to write and recite poetry, helping him overcome his speech impediment. With that obstacle removed, Jones began to dream of acting like his estranged father, Robert Earl Jones.
After graduating from the University of Michigan, he served with the U.S. Army in Colorado, where he met a Jesuit chaplain who, Jones wrote, “helped me understand who God really was.” While in the Army, he joined the Catholic Church.
James Earl Jones pursued acting, came to know his father, and launched a successful acting career. His role in “The Great White Hope” (1970) catapulted him to stardom, establishing him “as America’s premier black actor, a status yet to be challenged” in the mid-1980s, The New York Times reported at the time. He took on a variety of Broadway roles and acted in Shakespearean plays, while also acting in film and TV, playing Alex Haley in the television mini-series “Roots.”
His talent earned him the elusive “EGOT,” having garnered Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. The Oscar was an honorary Academy Award granted in 2011.
James Earl Jones died Monday morning at his home in Dutchess County, New York, according to his agent.
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