Some very sad news to report this evening, as it has been announced that legendary Hollywood actor James Earl Jones has passed away, aged 93. Best known for his distinctive voice – which brought life to both Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in Disney’s The Lion King – Jones enjoyed a career spanning eight decades and receiving numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Grammy, and an Honorary Academy Award.
Born in Mississippi in 1931, Jones began his acting career following a stint in the military in the 1950s, firmly establishing himself on Broadway before branching out into film and television. His feature film debut came with 1964’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, and subsequently reprised his Broadway role for the 1970 feature The Great White Hope, which resulted in an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
In 1977, Jones lent his voice to the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, in the blockbuster Star Wars – a role he would reprise for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, before returning as the character decades on in Revenge of the Sith, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and The Rise of Skywalker, along with the animate series Star Wars Rebels.
Post Star Wars, some of Jones’ more notable credits included the villain Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian, King Jaffe Joffer in Coming to America and its 2021 sequel (which ultimately proved to be his final feature credit), Admiral James Greer in The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, and Mufasa in The Lion King (notably, Jones was the only voice actor from Disney’s animated original to reprise his role for the 2019 live-action movie), while his final film credit came with 2021’s sequel Coming 2 America.
