James Earl Jones - Awards, Trivia, Quotes

Stage, film, and television actor, born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, USA. The son of an ex-prizefighter-actor, he attended the University of Michigan, and after Army service he studied acting in New York and made his Broadway debut (1957). After his first major role in The Great White Hope (1966), he went on to star in a wide variety of classic and contemporary plays. His varied film career includes lending his distinctive resonant voiceover to the character of Darth Vader in Star Wars (1977, 1980, 1983).

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 African American 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. Ironically, he is most famous for his deep authoritative voice. James Earl Jones married Cecilia Hart in 1982, they have one child Flynn Earl Jones. 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.

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, however, by David Prowse in the original films and Hayden Christensen in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. During postproduction, Jones dubbed over Prowse as Vader's voice because George Lucas never intended to use Prowse's voice due to his English West country accent. While often cast as an African or African-American figure (as in Coming to America), he is best known for roles and voices which transcend ethnicity. 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 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 has won Tony awards in 1969 for The Great White Hope and in 1987 for Fences. 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.

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.

Trivia

Jones is a frequent voice contributor to The Simpsons, particularly their Treehouse of Horror episodes. 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." 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. 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). 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. 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. 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!

Filmography

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) The Comedians in Africa (1967) (short subject) The Comedians (1967) End of the Road (1970) King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970) (documentary) The Great White Hope (1970) Malcom X (1972) (documentary) (narrator) The Man (1972) Claudine (1974) The River Niger (1976) The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976) Swashbuckler (1976) Deadly Hero (1976) The Greatest (1977) Star Wars (1977) (voice) Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977) A Piece of the Action (1977) Black Theatre: The Making of a Movement (1978) (documentary) The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (voice) The Creation (1981) (short subject) (narrator) The Bushido Blade (1981) The Flight of Dragons (1982) (voice) Conan the Barbarian (1982) Blood Tide (1982) Return of the Jedi (1983) (voice) Allen Boesak: Choosing for Justice (1984) (short subject) (narrator) City Limits (1985) Soul Man (1986) Gardens of Stone (1987) Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987) My Little Girl (1987) Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987) (voice) Matewan (1987) Terrorgram (1988) (voice) Coming to America (1988) Three Fugitives (1989) Field of Dreams (1989) Best of the Best (1989) Convicts (1990) The Hunt for Red October (1990) A World Alive (1990) (documentary) (narrator) The Ambulance (1990) Grim Prairie Tales (1990) True Identity (1991) Scorchers (1991) The Second Coming (1992) (short subject) (narrator) Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama (1992) (narrator) Patriot Games (1992) Freddie as F.R.O.7 (1992) (narrator) Sneakers (1992) Dreamrider (1993) Sommersby (1993) The Sandlot (1993) Excessive Force (1993) The Meteor Man (1993) The Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994) (Cameo) Africa: The Serengeti (1994) (short subject) (narrator) Clean Slate (1994) The Lion King (1994) (voice) Clear and Present Danger (1994) Countdown to Freedom: 10 Days That Changed South Africa (1994) (documentary) (narrator) Jefferson in Paris (1995) Judge Dredd (1995) (narrator) Cry, The Beloved Country (1995) A Family Thing (1996) Looking for Richard (1996) (documentary) Good Luck (1996) Gang Related (1997) New York... Come Visit the World (1998) (short subject) Primary Colors (1998) (voice) The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) (voice) (direct-to-video) Our Friend, Martin (1999) (voice) (direct-to-video) On the Q.T. (1999) Undercover Angel (1999) The Annihilation of Fish (1999) Fantasia 2000 (1999) Ennis' Gift (2000) (documentary) Antietam: A Documentary Drama (2000) (documentary) (narrator) The Papp Project (2001) (documentary) Black Indians: An American Story (2001) Finder's Fee (2001) Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street (2001) (voice) (direct-to-video) Muhammad Ali: Through the Eyes of the World (2001) (documentary) The Great Year (2004) (documentary) (narrator) Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004) (documentary) Robots (2005) (voice) The Sandlot 2 (2005) (direct-to-DVD) Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) (voice) The Benchwarmers (2006) (voice) Scary Movie 4 (2006) (narrator) Click (2006) (narrator)

Quotes

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: James Earl Jones "I was a stutterer.