The booming voice of James Earl Jones has been silenced. Sadly, news has hit us that Jones passed away at the age of 93. The actor will forever be known as the voice of Darth Vader throughout the Star Wars movies. He will continue to be the voice of Vader as in 2022 he signed over to Disney and Lucasfilm the rights to recreate it through artificial intelligence, as heard in the recent Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
But Jones was so much more than Darth Vader. Having grown up with a speech impediment, Jones overcame that to play a number of iconic roles in many memorable films, including King Jaffe in Coming to America and its sequel Coming 2 America, the voice of Mufasa in The Lion King, and Admiral Greer in The Hunt for Red October. Jones also appeared as Malcolm X in The Greatest, and the kindly blind neighbor Mr. Mertle in The Sandlot. Jones’ list of credits is too long to list entirely, but a few more include Dr. Strangelove, Exorcist II: The Heretic, Conan The Barbarian, Field of Dreams, Patriot Games, Sneakers, and Clear and Present Danger. He was also the original voice of CNN.
Jones won numerous awards during his career. He won two Tony Awards, a Best Actor for his role as boxer Jack Johnson in The Great White Hope, which he then reprised for the acclaimed 1970 movie. He also won a Golden Globe, and Emmy, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1992.
Punch Drunk Critics sends its condolences to the friends, family, and everyone who knew and loved James Earl Jones.
