James Earl Jones, 93, Dies: Legendary Actor Voiced Darth Vader in 'Star Wars' and Mufasa in 'The Lion King'James Earl Jones - the illustrious actor with a universally recognized baritone voice who starred in numerous movies and stage productions but who will forever be known as the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies - has died, according to multiple reports. He was 93.
Jones died Monday at his home in Dutchess County, New York.
From his Oscar-nominated performance as a sympathetic boxer in The Great White Hope, to his memorable turn alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan the Barbarian, to his Emmy-winning role in ABC's crime series Gabriel's Fire, Jones was a versatile star whose presence lent any project a sense of gravitas.
His numerous character performances in movies as different as Dr. Strangelove, The Hunt for Red October, Coming to America, and Field of Dreams displayed his astonishing breadth of talent, enabling him to continue working well into his 80s.
While his voice work as Darth Vader and as Mustafa in Disney's The Lion King helped make him a wealthy man - he was also the voice of CNN - Jones was first and foremost a theater actor who returned to the stage throughout his career.
Jones rose to prominence in the theater world thanks in large part to Joseph Papp, who cast him in several Shakespearean roles for the New York Shakespeare Festival. The actor played King Lear, Othello, and Claudius in Hamlet.
He won a Tony Award for the original Broadway run of The Great White Hope. He also originated the role of Troy Maxson in August Wilson's Fences, for which he won a second Tony.
Jones achieved a late-career renaissance with a series of acclaimed stage performances including a 2010 revival of Driving Miss Daisy, opposite Vanessa Redgrave; and a 2012 production of Gore Vidal's The Best Man.
But it was Darth Vader for whom Jones would revisit the most. As recently as Rogue One, released in 2016, the actor brought a sense of menace but also stately authority to the role of the fallen Jedi. His crystal clear enunciation punctuated by the character's mechanical respirattion combined to form one of the most memorable movie villains of all time.
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