James Earl Jones Biography, Age, Movies, Dead, Star Wars and Voice

James Earl Jones Biography

James Earl Jones is an American actor. His career has lasted more than 60 years.  James has been described as “one of America’s most distinguished and versatile” actors  and “one of the greatest actors in American history”.

Since his first performance  in 1957, James has won many awards, including a Tony Award for his role in The Great White Hope.  It also earned him a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the film version of the play.

In 1990 James has won three Emmy Awards, including two in the same year. He is also best  known for his voice roles as Darth Vader in the Star Wars film series and Mufasa in Disney’s The Lion King, as well as many other film, stage and television roles.

James has been said to have “one of the best-known voices in show business. A stirring basso profondo that has lent gravel and gravitas” to his projects, including live-action acting, voice acting, and commercial voice-overs.

He won a Grammy Award for Great American Documents in 1970.  When he was a child he was a stammerer. During his episode of Biography, James stated that he overcame the affliction through poetry, public speaking, and acting, although it lasted for several years.  He went on to serve in the United States Army during the Korean War A pre-med major in college before pursuing a career in acting.

James received an Honorary Academy Award on November 12, 2011.  He received the Voice Arts Icon Award on November 9, 2015.  Jame received an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Harvard University on May 25, 2017 and concluded the event’s benediction with “May the Force be with you”.

James Earl Jones Age |How Old Is James Earl Jones

James was born on January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi. He is 88 years old as of 2019.

James Earl Jones Height | How Tall Is James Earl Jones

James stands at a height of 1.87 m.

James Earl Jones Family |James Earl Jones Parents |James Earl Jones Father | James Earl Jones Young

James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi. He is the son to Ruth (Williams) Jones (1911–1986), a teacher and maid, and Robert Earl Jones (1910–2006), a boxer, butler, and chauffeur. His father left the family shortly after James Earl’s birth. Later his father became a stage and screen actor in New York and Hollywood. James and his father did not get to know each other until the 1950s.  However they became reconciled then. Earl’s  parents were African-American. Later he has learned they also had Irish and Native American ancestry.

Since when he was five years old he was raised by his maternal grandparents, John Henry and Maggie Williams.  They had moved from Mississippi in the Great Migration and had a farm in Jackson, Michigan. James was traumatized by the transition to living with his grandparents in Michigan and developed a stutter so severe that he refused to speak. After they moved to the more rural Brethren, Michigan, a teacher helped him overcome his stutter.

For eight years James remained functionally mute until he entered high school. He acknowledges his English teacher, Donald Crouch, who discovered he had a gift for writing poetry, with helping him end his silence.  Crouch urged him to challenge his reluctance to speak.  “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.”

James Earl Jones Wife | James Earl Jones Kids

In 1968 James married American actress/singer Julienne Marie, whom he met while performing as Othello in 1964. The two had no children, and divorced in 1972.  James married actress Cecilia Hart in 1982, with whom he had one child, son Flynn Earl Jones (born 1982). His wife Hart died on October 16, 2016, after a year of living with ovarian cancer.

James Earl Jones Dead | James Earl Jones Death | Is James Earl Jones Alive

James is still alive.  He spoke publicly in April 2016 for the first time in nearly 20 years about his long-term health challenge with type 2 diabetes. James has been dealing with diabetes since the mid 1990s.

James Earl Jones Son

James  and his son Flynn Earl Jones are very close and in fact, they work together everyday because Flynn Earl Jones is his Dad’s personal assistant. So Flynn is  always  there by his father side looking out for him and although work only gets tougher for James, he had this to say about it:

“I do like my rest, it was hard to get up this morning” – but he can’t ever see himself stopping. “I have no other employment. I can’t afford the amount of land you need to be a farmer and that’s the only other thing I know. The military I liked when I was in it but I’m too old. There’s nothing I would retire for, so I won’t retire.” He grins. ‘‘I’ll just keep going until I fall over.”

James Earl Jones Net Worth | How Much Is James Earl Jones Worth

James has an estimated net worth of $45 million dollars.

James Earl Jones Movies | James Earl Jones Films | James Earl Jones Filmography

Movies From Year 2001 to 2019

• 2019 – The Lion King as Mufasa
• 2018 – Warning shot as Pendleton
• 2016 – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as Darth Vader
• 2014 – The Angriest Man in Brooklyn as Ruben
• 2014 – Driving Miss Daisy as Hoke Colburn
• 2013 – Gimme Shelter as Frank McCarthy
• 2011 – Star Tours—The Adventures Continue as Darth Vader
• 2009 – Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey as The Admiral
• 2009 – Jack and the Beanstalk as The Giant
• 2008 – Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins as Roscoe Jenkins, Sr.
• 2006 – The Benchwarmers as Darth Vader
• 2006 – Click as Narrator of Michael’s Past
• 2006 – Scary Movie 4 as Narrator
• 2005 – Robots as Voice Box at Hardware Store
• 2005 – The Sandlot 2 as Mr. Mertle
• 2001 – Finder’s Fee as Avery Phillips
• 2001 – Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street as Santa Claus

• 1999 – Our Friend, Martin as Martin Luther King, Sr.
• 1999 – On the Q.T. as Leo
• 1999 – Undercover Angel as The Judge
• 1999 – The Annihilation of Fish as Fish
• 1999 – Fantasia 2000 – Himself
• 1998 – Primary Colors as CNN Voiceover
• 1998 – The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride as Mufasa
• 1997 – Casper: A Spirited Beginning as Kibosh
• 1997 – Gang Related as Arthur Baylor
• 1996 – A Family Thing as Ray Murdock
• 1996 – Good Luck as James Bing
• 1995 – Jefferson in Paris as Madison Hemings
• 1995 – Cry, the Beloved Country as Rev. Stephen Kumalo
• 1995 – Judge Dredd as Narrator

• 1994 – Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult – Himself
• 1994 – Clean Slate as Dolby
• 1994 – The Lion King as Mufasa
• 1994 – Clear and Present Danger as Admiral James Greer
• 1993 – Dreamrider asWilliam Perry
• 1993 – Sommersby as Judge Barry Conrad Isaacs
• 1993 – The Sandlot as Mr. Mertle
• 1993 – Excessive Force as Jake
• 1993 – The Meteor Man as Earnest Moses
• 1992 – Patriot Games as Admiral James Greer
• 1992 – Freddie as F.R.O.7 as Narrator
• 1992 – Sneakers as NSA Agent Bernard Abbott
• 1991 – Scorchers as Bear
• 1990 – Convicts as Ben Johnson
• 1990 – The Hunt for Red October as Admiral James Greer
• 1990 – The Ambulance as Lt. Spencer
• 1990 – Grim Prairie Tales as Morrison

• 1989 – Three Fugitives as Detective Movan Dugan
• 1989 – Field of Dreams as Terence Mann
• 1989 – Best of the Best as Frank Couzo
• 1988 – Coming to America as King Jaffe Joffer
• 1987 – Gardens of Stone as Sgt. Maj. “Goody” Nelson
• 1987 – My Little Girl as Ike Bailey
• 1987 – Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night as Emperor of the Night
• 1987 – Matewan as Few Clothes
• 1986 – Soul Man as Professor Banks
• 1986 – Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold as Umslopogaas
• 1985 – City Limits as Albert
• 1983 – Return of the Jedi as Darth Vader
• 1982 – The Flight of Dragons as Ommadon
• 1982 – Conan the Barbarian as Thulsa Doom
• 1982 – Blood Tide as Frye
• 1980 – The Empire Strikes Back as Darth Vader

• 1979 – The Bushido Blade as Harpooner
• 1977 – The Greatest as Malcolm X
• 1977 – Star Wars as Darth Vader
• 1977 – Exorcist II: The Heretic as Older Kokumo
• 1977 – The Last Remake of Beau Geste as Sheikh
• 1977 – A Piece of the Action as Joshua Burke
• 1976 – The River Niger as Johnny Williams
• 1976 – The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings as Leon Carter
• 1976 – Swashbuckler as Nick Debrett
• 1976 – Deadly Hero as Rabbit
• 1974 – Claudine as Rupert “Roop” B. Marshall
• 1972 – Malcolm X as Narrator
• 1972 – The Man as Douglass Dilman
• 1970 – The End of the Road as Doctor D
• 1970 – The Great White Hope as Jack Jefferson
• 1970 – King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis – Himself
• 1967 – The Comedians as Dr. Magiot
• 1967 – The Comedians in Africa – Himself
• 1964 – Dr. Strangelove as Lt. Lothar Zogg

James Earl Jones Tv Shows

Tv Shows From year 2003 to 2015

• 2015 – Agent X as Chief Justice Caleb Thorne
• 2015 – The Lion Guard as Mufasa (voice)
• 2014 – The Big Bang Theory – Himself
• 2014–16 – Star Wars Rebels as Darth Vader (voice)
• 2009 – House as Dibala
• 2008 – Two and a Half Men – Himself
• 2004 – According to Jim as Royal Flush XP Toilet
• 2004 – Sesame Street – Himself
• 2003 – Will & Grace – Himself
• 2003–04 – Everwood as Will Cleveland

• 1998 – Merlin – Mountain King
• 1998 – Recess as Santa Claus
• 1997 – Mad About You – Himself
• 1997 – Touched by an Angel as Angel of Angels
• 1997 – Frasier as Norman Royster
• 1997 – Stargate: SG-1 as Unas
• 1997 – Homicide: Life on the Street as Felix Wilson
• 1996 – 3rd Rock from the Sun as Narrator
• 1995 – Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child as King Dakkar (voice)
• 1995 – Signs and Wonders as Diamond
• 1995 – Under One Roof as Neb Langston

• 1994 – Picket Fences as Bryant Thomas
• 1994 – Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman as Franklin Stern
• 1993 – ABC Weekend Special
• 1993 – Law & Order as Horace McCoy
• 1993 – American Playhouse as Old Man Taylor
• 1992 – Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories as Narrator
• 1992 – Garfield and Friends as Diablo
• 1991–92 – Pros and Cons as Gabriel Bird
• 1990, 1994, 1998 – The Simpsons as Narrator / Maggie Simpson / Moving Man / Serak the Preparer (voices)
• 1987, 1990–92 – Square One TV as Announcer / Chief Thad Greene
  1990–91 – Gabriel’s Fire as Gabriel Bird
• 1989 – Saturday Night with Connie Chung as Vernon Johns
• 1989-92 – Long Ago and Far Away as Host / Narrator
• 1988–89 – L.A. Law as Lee Atkins
• 1987–91 – Mathnet as Chief Thad Green
• 1986 – Faerie Tale Theatre as Genie of the Lamp & Genie of the Ring
• 1985 – Me and Mom as Lou Garfield

• 1979–80 – Paris as Woodrow Paris
• 1979 – Roots: The Next Generations as Alex Haley
• 1977 – Roots as Alex Haley
• 1977 – Jesus of Nazareth as Balthazar
• 1969 – N.Y.P.D. as Candy Lateen
• 1966 – Dr. Kildare as Dr. Lou Rush
• 1963 – East Side/West Side as Joe Goodwin

James Earl Jones Voice

James is best known as the voice of Darth Vader in the 1977 film Star Wars: A New Hope and its sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). Darth Vader was characterized in costume by David Prowse in the film trilogy.  James dubbed Vader’s dialogue in postproduction because Prowse’s strong West Country accent was deemed unsuitable for the role by George Lucas.

Following  his own request, James was uncredited for the original releases of the first two Star Wars films, though he later would be credited for the first film in its 1997 “Special Edition” re-release. As he explained in a 2008 interview:

“When Linda Blair did the girl in The Exorcist, they hired Mercedes McCambridge to do the voice of the devil coming out of her. And there was controversy as to whether Mercedes should get credit. I was one who thought no, she was just special effects. So when it came to Darth Vader, I said, no, I’m just special effects. But it became so identified that by the third one, I thought, OK I’ll let them put my name on it.”