James Earl Jones, the renowned American stage, film and television actor whose unmistakable voice brought characters like Darth Vader and Mufasa to life, has died at 93.
His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home. The cause was not immediately clear.
Jones, who worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honours and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honour.
He created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in Field of Dreams, the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit The Great White Hope, the writer Alex Haley in Roots: The Next Generation and a South African minister in Cry, the Beloved Country.
He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader with the line, “No, I am your father,” — commonly misremembered as “Luke, I am your father” — as well as the benign dignity of King Mufasa in Disney’s animated The Lion King and announcing “This is CNN” during station breaks. He won a 1977 Grammy for his performance on the Great American Documents audiobook.
More to come