James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931, and passed away on September 9, 2024. He was an American actor who helped open doors for Black actors in the entertainment industry. He was highly praised for his work on stage and in movies. Jones is one of the few people to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. He was added to the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1985 and received honors such as the National Medal of Arts in 1992, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2009, and the Academy Honorary Award in 2011.
Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, during the Jim Crow era, a time when racial segregation was legal in the Southern United States. He overcame a speech problem called a stutter during his childhood. Before becoming an actor, he studied to be a doctor in college and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. His deep voice was described as powerful and serious. Jones first performed on Broadway in the play Sunrise at Campobello in 1957. He later acted in productions by Shakespeare in the Park, including Othello (1964), Coriolanus (1965), Hamlet (1972), and King Lear (1973).
For his work on Broadway, Jones won two Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Play for his roles in The Great White Hope (1968) and Fences (1987). He was also nominated for other Tony Awards for roles in On Golden Pond (2005) and The Best Man (2012). Jones acted in plays such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008), Driving Miss Daisy (2010–2011), You Can't Take It with You (2014), and The Gin Game (2015). In 2017, he received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.
In movies, Jones first acted in Dr. Strangelove (1964) directed by Stanley Kubrick. He played the same character in the film version of The Great White Hope (1970) and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He became famous for voicing Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies. Jones also appeared in films such as The Man (1972), Claudine (1974), Conan the Barbarian (1982), Matewan (1987), Coming to America (1988), Field of Dreams (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Sneakers (1992), The Sandlot (1993), The Lion King (1994), and Cry, the Beloved Country (1995).
Early life and education
James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931, in Arkabutla, Mississippi. His mother, Ruth (born Connolly in 1911 and died in 1986), was a teacher and maid. His father, Robert Earl Jones (born in 1910 and died in 2006), was a boxer, butler, and chauffeur. His father left the family shortly after James was born and later became an actor in New York and Hollywood. James and his father reunited in the 1950s. He stated in interviews that both of his parents had mixed ancestry, including African-American, Irish, and Native American heritage.
From age five, James lived with his maternal grandparents, John Henry and Maggie Connolly, on their farm in Dublin, Michigan. His grandparents had moved from Mississippi during the Great Migration. James found the move to Michigan very difficult and developed a severe stutter that made him refuse to speak. He said, "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." His English teacher, Donald Crouch, noticed James’s talent for writing poetry and encouraged him to speak by reading poetry aloud to the class.
In 1949, James graduated from Dickson Rural Agricultural School (now Brethren High School) in Brethren, Michigan, where he was vice president of his class. He attended the University of Michigan, where he first studied to become a doctor. He joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and did well in the program. He felt comfortable in the military environment and enjoyed being part of groups like the Pershing Rifles Drill Team and Scabbard and Blade Honor Society. After his junior year, he shifted his focus to drama, hoping to pursue a career he enjoyed before being sent to fight in the Korean War. James graduated in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama.
As the Korean War continued, James expected to be sent to active duty after becoming a second lieutenant. While waiting for orders, he worked on the stage crew and acted at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in mid-1953, after the war ended, and reported to Fort Benning for training. He attended Ranger School and earned his Ranger Tab. He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 38th Regimental Combat Team. His unit was sent to establish a cold-weather training command at the former Camp Hale near Leadville, Colorado, where they trained in the Rocky Mountains. James was promoted to first lieutenant before leaving the military.
After his military service, James moved to New York City. He studied at the American Theatre Wing and worked as a janitor to support himself financially.
Career
Jones started his acting career at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan. In 1953, he worked as a stage carpenter. Between 1955 and 1957, he acted and managed the stage. During his first season at the Ramsdell, he played the role of Othello. His early career also included a part in the ABC radio show Theatre-Five. In 1957, he made his Broadway debut as an understudy to Lloyd Richards in the short-lived play The Egghead by Molly Kazan. The play performed for only 21 shows, but three months later, in January 1958, Jones played the role of Edward, a butler, in Sunrise at Campobello at the Cort Theatre.
From the early 1960s to the mid-1960s, Jones performed in plays based on the works of William Shakespeare. He became one of the most well-known actors of Shakespeare’s plays during this time. He played roles such as Othello, King Lear, Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Abhorson in Measure for Measure, and Claudius in Hamlet at Shakespeare in the Park. In 1961, Jones appeared in an Off-Broadway production of The Blacks by Jean Genet, alongside eight other Black actors who later became famous, including Roscoe Lee Browne, Cicely Tyson, and Lou Gossett. The New York Public Library has photos of this production, including one of Tyson and Jones. During a performance of The Merchant of Venice at Shakespeare in the Park, director Stanley Kubrick saw George C. Scott play Shylock and Jones portray the Prince of Morocco. Kubrick was originally there to cast Scott in the film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), but he later said, “I’ll take the black one too.” Jones played the role of young Lt. Lothar Zogg, a B-52 bombardier in the film, which was his first role in a movie.
Jones later played a surgeon and a Haitian rebel leader in The Comedians, with Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Alec Guinness. In December 1967, he starred with Jane Alexander in Howard Sackler’s play The Great White Hope at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. Jones played Jack Jefferson, a boxer based on the real-life champion Jack Johnson. The play was very successful when it moved to Broadway in 1968 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Jones received the 1969 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and the Drama Desk Award for his performance.
In 1969, Jones helped test films for the children’s education series Sesame Street. These short films, combined with animated segments, were shown to children to see if the new format was effective. A short film showing bald-headed Jones counting slowly to ten had the greatest impact with test audiences. These segments were later included in the Sesame Street series when it first aired in 1969. Jones is often called the first celebrity guest on the show, though a segment with Carol Burnett was the first actually broadcast. He also appeared on the soap opera Guiding Light.
In 1970, Jones worked with Jane Alexander in the film version of The Great White Hope. This was his first leading role in a movie. He played Jack Johnson, a role he had first performed on stage. His performance was praised by critics and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He was the second African-American male performer after Sidney Poitier to be nominated for this award. Variety magazine said, “Jones’ recreation of his stage role is an eye-riveting experience. The towering rages and unrestrained joys of which his character was capable are portrayed larger than life.” In The Man (1972), Jones played a senator who unexpectedly becomes the first African-American president of the United States.
In 1973, Jones played Hickey in a Broadway revival of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh at the Circle in the Square Theatre. He also starred as King Lear in a production of Shakespeare’s play at the New York City Shakespeare Festival in Central Park. This performance was recorded and broadcast on the PBS series Great Performances. In 1974, Jones played Lennie in a Broadway production of Of Mice and Men, based on John Steinbeck’s novella.
In 1974, Jones co-starred with Diahann Carroll in the film Claudine, which tells the story of a woman raising six children alone after several failed relationships. The film is a romantic comedy and drama that explores racial inequalities faced by Black families. It was one of the first major films to address themes such as welfare, economic inequality, and marriage in the African American community during the 1970s. Jones and Carroll received critical acclaim and Golden Globe nominations for their performances. Carroll was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.
In 1977, Jones played Balthazar in the television series Jesus of Nazareth. That same year, he first voiced the role of Darth Vader in George Lucas’s Star Wars: A New Hope. He later reprised the role in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). Darth Vader was played by David Prowse in the films, but Jones provided the voice because Prowse’s accent was not suitable for the role. Jones was uncredited for the first two Star Wars films but was credited for the third film and later for the 1997 re-release of the first film. In 1977, Jones also won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Great American Documents. In late 1979, Jones appeared on the short-lived CBS show Paris. He also starred in the TV mini-series Roots: The Next Generations as the older version of author Alex Haley.
In 1987, Jones played Troy Maxson in August Wilson’s play Fences, a middle-aged father struggling to provide for his family. The play, set in the 1950s, is part of Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle,” which explores the African-American experience and race relations. Jones received his second Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance. In the 1980s, he also appeared in box office hits such as *Conan the Barbarian
Personal life and death
In 1968, Jones married Julienne Marie, an actress and singer. They met when he performed the role of Othello and she played Desdemona in 1964. They divorced in 1972. In 1982, Jones married Cecilia Hart, an actress. After their marriage, she played Desdemona and he played Othello. They had a son named Flynn Earl Jones. Hart passed away from health issues caused by ovarian cancer on October 16, 2016, at the age of 68.
In April 2016, Jones shared details about his long-term health issue with type 2 diabetes for the first time in nearly 20 years. He was diagnosed in the mid-1990s after his doctor noticed he had fallen asleep while exercising at a gym.
Jones was deeply religious as a Roman Catholic. He became a Roman Catholic while serving in the military. He described reading the New Testament as "his greatest honor."
Jones passed away at his home in Pawling, New York, on September 9, 2024, at the age of 93 due to diabetes. He was surrounded by his family at the time of his death. In a statement, CNN said that Jones "was the voice of CNN and our brand for many decades, uniquely conveying through speech instant authority, grace, and decorum. That remarkable voice is just one of many things the world will miss about James."
Jones's alma mater, the University of Michigan, honored him by sharing a "We Are Michigan" video narrated by him on Twitter. The NAACP, SAG-AFTRA, The Public Theater, and MLB also honored him. The Empire State Building in New York City was lit to look like Darth Vader. Vice President Kamala Harris praised Jones, writing that "[He] used his voice to challenge America's thinking on civil rights and race, and he continued to move our nation forward through his art." Former President Bill Clinton released a statement calling Jones "a brilliant actor who brought to life some of the most iconic characters ever." Actor Denzel Washington honored Jones, calling him his "hero" and saying, "I wasn't going to be as big as him. I wanted to sound like him. He was everything to me as a budding actor. He was who I wanted to be." Many others in the entertainment industry, including George Lucas, Mark Hamill, Kevin Costner, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Barry Jenkins, Spike Lee, Viola Davis, Whoopi Goldberg, Courtney B. Vance, and Alec Baldwin, also honored Jones.
Reception and legacy
After James Earl Jones passed away, The New York Times described his career as "a very large body of work" and called him "one of America's most versatile actors in stage, film, and television." The Hollywood Reporter said Jones was "one of the most admired American actors of all time." The Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw wrote that Jones, like Sidney Poitier or Harry Belafonte, had a "beautiful voice" that helped his characters "rise above racism and cruelty." He also called Jones "movie royalty." Academy Award-winning actress Viola Davis said Jones's career showed "black excellence."
Jones was recognized for breaking barriers for African Americans in acting. In 1965, he became one of the first African American actors to have a continuing role on a daytime drama called As the World Turns. Critic Clive Barnes said Jones's theater roles had "an almost moral force" and that his voice "rasped out an agony nearly too personally painful in its nakedness." In 2011, Academy Award-nominated actor Alec Baldwin called Jones "one of the greatest actors in American history." In 2022, the Cort Theatre was renamed after James Earl Jones, becoming the second Broadway venue named after a Black theatrical artist. The Cort Theatre was also where Jones made his Broadway debut in 1958.
On May 16, 2025, the online video game Fortnite Battle Royale added a non-playable character named Darth Vader, which players can talk to using artificial intelligence modeled after Jones's voice. The game's developer, Llama Productions LLC (owned by Epic Games), received permission from Jones's estate to use his voice. They worked closely with his family to create the AI voice model. SAG-AFTRA filed a complaint with the NLRB against Llama Productions in response.
Acting credits and accolades
James Earl Jones had a long and successful career in film, television, and theater. He began his film career by appearing in the 1964 political satire film Dr. Strangelove as Lt. Lothar Zogg. Later, he starred in the 1970 film The Great White Hope as Jack Jefferson, a role he first performed at Washington's Arena Stage in the world premiere of Howard Sackler's play of the same name.
In television, he won two Primetime Emmy Awards for his roles in the thriller film Heat Wave (1990) and the crime series Gabriel's Fire (1991). He also acted in Jesus of Nazareth (1977), Roots: The Next Generations (1979), Picket Fences (1994), and Homicide: Life on the Street (1997). His television work included playing Woodrow Paris in the series Paris from 1979 to 1980. He also voiced characters on the animated series The Simpsons during three separate seasons (1990, 1994, 1998).
Jones's theater work included many Broadway plays, such as Sunrise at Campobello (1958–1959), Danton's Death (1965), The Iceman Cometh (1973–1974), Of Mice and Men (1974–1975), Othello (1982), On Golden Pond (2005), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008), and You Can't Take It with You (2014–2015).
Jones won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and a Grammy Award. He also received a Golden Globe Award, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, and an Academy Honorary Award in 2011. He is considered an EGOT, meaning he has won all four major awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Some people debate whether the term EGOT includes winners like Jones who received non-competitive awards.
In 1985, Jones was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. He was the first person to receive the Annie Glenn Award in 1987. In 1991, he received the Commonwealth Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Dramatic Arts. In 1992, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by George H. W. Bush. In 1996, he received the Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars and the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement. In 2002, he was the featured Martin Luther King Day speaker in Lauderhill, Florida. In 2011, he received the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Monte Cristo Award and an Honorary Academy Award. In 2012, he was honored with the Marian Anderson Award. In 2014, he won the Voice Icon Award from the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences. In 2017, he received an Honorary Doctor of Arts from Harvard University and a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 2019, he was honored as a Disney Legend. In March 2022, Broadway's Cort Theatre was renamed the James Earl Jones Theatre in his honor.