James Earl Jones

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James Earl Jones

Birth name James Earl Jones
Born 17 January 1931
Arkabutla, Mississippi, USA
Notable roles Darth Vader in Star Wars, Mufasa in The Lion King,
Spouse(s) Cecilia Hart

James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla Township, Mississippi in Tate County) is among America's best known film and stage actors. He is most famous for his deep and authoritative voice and his originally uncredited role as the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars films.

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[edit] Early life

The son of actor Robert Earl Jones (The Sting), who left the family before James Earl was born, and Ruth Williams, he was raised by his maternal grandparents and is of Irish, Cherokee and African-American heritage. He moved to rural Dublin, Michigan located in Manistee County, Michigan at around five years of age. He developed a stutter so severe he refused to speak aloud. He remained functionally mute for eight years until he reached high school. He credits a high school teacher, Donald Crouch – who discovered he had a gift for writing poetry, with helping him out of his silence. The teacher believed forced public speaking would help him gain confidence and insisted he recite a poem in class each day. "I was a stutterer. I couldn't talk. So my first year of school was my first mute year, and then those mute years continued until I got to high school."

Jones went on to graduate from the University of Michigan. He was enrolled in the ROTC at Michigan and was an Army officer stationed in Alaska in the late 1950s. While in college, he was a member of the National Honorary Society of Pershing Rifles.

His first wife was actress/singer Julienne Marie (aka Julienne Scanlon), who was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1933. They had no children together. James Earl Jones married Cecilia Hart in 1982, they have one child Flynn Earl Jones.

[edit] Film and stage career

His first film role was as a young and trim B-52 crewman in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb in 1964 which was more famous for the work of Peter Sellers and Slim Pickens. His first taste of fame came with his portrayal of boxer Jack Jefferson (based on real-life boxer Jack Johnson and a role he had played on Broadway) in the film version of The Great White Hope. For his role, Jones was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award (losing to George C. Scott in Patton). He was the second African-American male performer (after Sidney Poitier) to be nominated for an Academy Award.

Jones provided the voice of Darth Vader in the popular Star Wars films.
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Jones provided the voice of Darth Vader in the popular Star Wars films.

He has appeared in many roles since, but is best known as the sinister voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars films (he is uncredited in some versions of the films, though some note Jones as the only African-American actor in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope). Darth Vader was portrayed in costume by David Prowse in the original films and Hayden Christensen in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, with Jones dubbing over their lines in postproduction.

His other voice roles include Mufasa in the 1994 Disney animated feature The Lion King, the 1998 Disney sequel The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, The Emperor of the Night in Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, the CNN tagline ("This is CNN"), the opening teaser for NBC's coverage of the 2000 & 2004 Summer Olympics, 'the Big PI in the Sky' (God) in the computer game Under a Killing Moon, a Claymation film about The Creation, and several guest spots on The Simpsons. He also reprised his voice in a credited appearance in the movie Robots where Darth Vader's voice appears in a voice module.

He also played as Terence Mann in the popular baseball film Field of Dreams, Reverend Stephen Kumalo in "Cry, The Beloved Country"; Admiral James Greer in The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger; villain Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian; and author Alex Haley in the television mini-series Roots: The Next Generations.

James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian.
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James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian.

Jones is an accomplished stage actor as well; he has won Tony awards in 1969 for The Great White Hope and in 1987 for Fences. He received Kennedy Center Honors in 2002.

James Earl Jones protraying GDI General Solomon in Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun
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James Earl Jones protraying GDI General Solomon in Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun

His other works include his potrayal of GDI's commanding general James Solomon in Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, a starring role in the television program Under One Roof as widowed police officer Neb Langston (for which he received an Emmy nomination), and television and radio advertising for Verizon Business DSL and Verizon Online DSL from Verizon Communications. He has guest-starred on such sitcoms as Frasier, Will & Grace and Everwood. Jones also lent his voice for a narrative part in the Adam Sandler comedy, Click, released in June 2006. His voice is also used to create an audio version of the King James Bible.

He is also the Narrator in Colony Wars playstation one game.

[edit] Awards

James Earl Jones won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1991 for his role as Gabriel Bird in Gabriel's Fire.

[edit] Trivia

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  • Jones is a frequent voice contributor to The Simpsons, particularly their Treehouse of Horror episodes. In Treehouse of Horror V, he delivered what Matt Groening considers the best single line of the series's entire run: Homer, trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of alternate realities, is waylaid by Groundskeeper Willie, who informs him that he can help him if he does exactly what he says. Before he can say what that is however, he dies screaming. The cause of his death is revealed to be an axe-weilding Maggie, who, removing her pacifier, declares to Homer in Jones's voice that, "This is indeed a disturbing universe." The episode in which Bleeding Gums Murphy died ("'Round Springfield") has a tribute to Jones where Simpsons cast member Harry Shearer sends up Jones' three most famous roles: Mufasa ("You must avenge my death, Kimba... dah, I mean Simba"), Darth Vader ("No, I am your father"), and the CNN announcer ("This is CNN"). He is also the narrator of the third part of the original Treehouse of Horror: The Raven.
  • His casting as the pompous King Jaffe Joffer in the 1988 Eddie Murphy film Coming to America, alongside the late Madge Sinclair, is believed to have inspired their later pairing in The Lion King. They also co-starred in Gabriel's Fire.
  • His name did not originally appear in the ending credits of Star Wars (1977), though he was credited in The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978). At the time of the film's release, Jones felt he had not done enough to deserve a credit. His name was added to the special edition release of the film in 1997. Lucas liked his commanding voice very much and had no intention of using David Prowse's, who spoke Vader's lines during filming.
  • George Lucas originally planned to use Orson Welles' voice to dub over David Prowse's. He later decided against it, deeming Welles' voice too recognizable. Instead he chose to use Jones' relatively obscure voice for the voice of Darth Vader. However, Welles did perform the narration for the film's first trailer, released in late 1976.
  • Many believe Jones is politically conservative, as he voiced his support for the Iraq war in October 2002, the first Gulf War, and the Kosovo War. However, in an interview, he stated that his endorsement is not for hire, and described his political beliefs as a private matter. According to Charlton Heston, Jones is a card-carrying member of the National Rifle Association (NRA).
  • He was hospitalised with pneumonia while performing in On Golden Pond on Broadway in June 2005.
  • Jones has said he answers all his fan mail personally, and that he signs so many autographs through the mail he believes his autograph is worthless.
  • Jones was also the (uncredited) voice of the masked Darth Vader in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
  • During one scene in Coming to America, when Mr. McDowell tells him that he will let Akeem know he is looking for him, Jones purposely and comedically slips into the Darth Vader voice saying "No! Do not alert him to my presence! I will deal with him myself", echoing a similar line in Return of the Jedi.
  • Jones is featured prominently in a Ben Folds song called "Lullabye." The lyrics, written by Anna Goodman, were inspired by a true story in which a friend of Anna's flew out of the Manistee, MI Airport ("one tiny place") on a commercial flight with only 2 other passengers: Jones and Richard Beneke ("Uncle Richard") of nearby Portage Lake.
  • James Earl Jones recorded all of Darth Vader's vocal parts for the original Star Wars movie in one day.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Quotes

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
  • "I was a stutterer. I couldn't talk. So my first year of school was my first mute year, and then those mute years continued until I got to high school."
  • "The arts have always been an important ingredient to the health of a nation, but we aren't there yet."
  • "This is CNN."
  • "Welcome to Bell Atlantic."
  • "My judgment is sound, Kane, and I am not afraid of ghosts or you." - As General Solomon in Tiberian Sun
  • "The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come." - As Terrence Mann in Field of Dreams

[edit] External links

Unknown to some, James is also a messenger from God. He had a popular role in the movie "Conan the Barbarian", unfortunatly, he died, which was a sin. /

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