The legendary actor and voice actor of Darth Vader has passed away at the age of 93.
One of the world's greatest actors has passed away, actor James Earl Jones sadly passed away at the age of 93 at his home in Dutchess County, New York. Jones had an incredibly long career, spanning decades of theater and film. He was beloved not only by fans of his films, but also by his fellow actors and actresses. Mark Hamill posted a tribute to the actor on X, simply stating, “#Rest in peace dad“, referring to Jones' voice acting role as Darth Vader in Star Wars franchising.
James Earl Jones will be remembered as a legendary actor
Born on January 17, 1931, in the small town of Arkabutla, Mississippi, the man with one of the most iconic voices in the entertainment industry struggled with a stutter from an early age. However, he would use poetry and acting to overcome it. He served in the U.S. Army before starting a career in the theater, appearing in numerous Broadway plays and winning three Tony Awards along the way.
He made his screen debut in 1964 with Stanley Kubrick's film Dr. Strangelove before winning a Golden Globe for her performance in the 1974 film Claudine. Jones would have his greatest success with his best-known performance as the voice of Darth Vader in the incredibly successful film Star Wars.
Jones was not originally supposed to voice Darth Vader. Instead, he was sought after David Prowse's voice (Vader's physical actor) was deemed unsuitable for the role. Jones' voice was dubbed and instantly became as iconic as the character's breathing sound effect. Even with this insane rise in popularity, Jones remained humble and even refused to be credited in the first two Star Wars film. He would finally allow the production to give him on-screen credit for Return of the Jedi, and has been credited in every subsequent re-release of the film since then.
Jones will reprise his role as the voice of Vader in both Revenge of the Sith AND Rogue One: A Star Wars Story but he would not return for future projects, choosing instead to allow Disney and Lucasfilm to use artificial intelligence and archive audio to create new reconstructions of his voice.
Jones' career would continue well beyond Star Wars as he had roles in both Arriving in America movie, The Man of DreamsAND The Sandlot. He would also play the voice of Mufasa in both the animated and live-action versions of The Lion KingThe entertainment industry has lost one of its most hardworking and respected members, and he will be greatly missed by all.
Source: X