James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor. He was famous for doing the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies, for doing the voice of Mufasa in The Lion King and in the 2019 remake, and for the CNN tagline ("This...is CNN").  He starred in Lincoln Portrait which has music by Aaron Copland.

Jones won two Tony Awards for his live theatre work on Broadway. He won an Emmy Award for his role on the television series Gabriel's Fire. In 1991, he became the first actor to win two Emmys in the same year.

He was a son of actor Robert Earl Jones.

 Death 
Jones died at his home in Pawling, New York on September 9, 2024. He was 93 years old. He had diabetes at the time of his death.

Film
 Year Title Role Notes  1964 Dr. Strangelove   1967    Krafsur 1997, pg. 193 1967  Himself Short film 1970  Doctor D Krafsur 1997, pg. 303 1970   Krafsur 1997, pg. 429 1970 King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis Himself Krafsur 1997, pg. 577 1972 Malcolm X Malcolm X  1972    1974 Claudine Roop  1976    1976    1976 Swashbuckler   1976 Deadly Hero Rabbit  1977  Malcolm X  1977 A New Hope Darth Vader (voice) Uncredited  1977 Exorcist II: The Heretic Older Kokumo  1977  Sheikh  1977   1980  Darth Vader (voice) Uncredited  1981 Bushido Blade Harpooner  1982  Ommadon (voice)  1982 Conan the Barbarian Thulsa Doom  1982 Blood Tide Frye aka Demon Island and The Red Tide 1983 Return of the Jedi Darth Vader (voice)  1985 City Limits Albert 1986 Soul Man   1987 Gardens of Stone  1987 Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold Umslopogaas  1987 My Little Girl   1987 Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night Emperor of the Night  1987 Matewan Few Clothes 1988 Coming to America   1989 Three Fugitives Dugan 1989 Field of Dreams  1989 Best of the Best Couzo 1990 Convicts  1990   1990   1990 Grim Prairie Tales Morrison 1991 Scorchers Bear 1992 Patriot Games  1992  Freddie as F.R.O.7 Narrator American version  1992 Sneakers  1993 Dreamrider  1993 Sommersby  1993   1993 Excessive Force Jake 1993   1994 Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult Himself Cameo  1994 Clean Slate Dolby 1994  Mufasa (voice)  1994 Clear and Present Danger  1995 Jefferson in Paris  1995 Cry, the Beloved Country  1995 Judge Dredd Narrator  1996   1996 Good Luck  1997 Casper: A Spirited Beginning Kibosh Direct-to-video 1997 Gang Related  1998 Primary Colors CNN Voiceover 1998  Mufasa Direct-to-video 1999 Our Friend, Martin Daddy King 1999 On the Q.T. Leo  1999 Undercover Angel The Judge 1999  The Annihilation of Fish Fish  1999 Fantasia 2000 Himself Introduction to Carnival of the Animals segment  2001 Finder's Fee  2001 Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street Santa Claus 2005 Robots Voice Box at Hardware Store (voice) 2005   Direct-to-video 2005 Revenge of the Sith Darth Vader (voice)  2006 Click Narrator of Michael's Past Uncredited  2006 Scary Movie 4 Narrator  2008 Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins  2009 Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey Admiral 2010 Jack and the Beanstalk The Giant 2011 Star Tours—The Adventures Continue Darth Vader (voice)  Short  2013 Gimme Shelter  2014  Ruben

Television
 Year Title Role Notes  1963 East Side/West Side   Episode: "Who Do You Kill?"  1966 Dr. Kildare  4 episodes  1969 N.Y.P.D.  2 episodes   1977 Roots  Episode: "Part XII"  1977 Jesus of Nazareth Balthazar Episode: "Part 1"  1979–1980 Paris  13 episodes  1979 Roots: The Next Generations  Episode: "1.7"  1985 Me and Mom  6 episodes  1986 Faerie Tale Theatre Genie Episode: "Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp"  1987–1991 Mathnet  5 episodes  1987, 19901992 Square One TV Announcer / Chief Thad Greene 4 episodes  1992  Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories Narrator Segment "Millions of Cats" 1988–1989 L.A. Law  2 episodes  1989 Saturday Night with Connie Chung  Episode: "God's Bad Boy"  1990, 1994, 1998  Narrator / Maggie Simpson / Moving Man (voices) 3 episodes 1990–1991 Gabriel's Fire  22 episodes  1991–1992 Pros and Cons  12 episodes  1992 Garfield and Friends Diablo Episode: "Ghost of a Chance"  1993  ABC Weekend Special  Episode: "The Parsley Garden"  1993 Law & Order  Episode: "Profile"  1993 American Playhouse Old Man Taylor Episode: "Hallelujah"  1994 Picket Fences  Episode: "System Down"  1994  Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman  Episode: "The House of Luthor" 1995 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child King Dakkar (voice)  Episode: "The Valiant Little Tailor"  1995  Signs and Wonders Diamond  4 episodes 1995 Under One Roof  6 episodes  1996 3rd Rock from the Sun Narrator  2 episodes  1997 Mad About You  Episode: "Chicken Man"  1997 Touched by an Angel Angel of Angels Episode: "Clipped Wings"  1997 Frasier  Episode: "Roz's Krantz & Gouldenstein Are Dead"  1997 Stargate: SG-1 Unas Episode: "Thor's Hammer"  1997 Homicide: Life on the Street  3 episodes  1998 Merlin Mountain King 3 episodes  1998 Recess Santa Claus 2 episodes  2003–2004 Everwood  3 episodes  2004 According to Jim Royal Flush XP Toilet Episode: "The Toilet"  2008 Two and a Half Men  Episode: "The Devil's Lube"  2009 House Dibala Episode: "The Tyrant" 2014   Episode: "The Convention Conundrum"  2014-2015 Star Wars Rebels Darth Vader 2 episodes  2015  Agent X TBA Filming

Television film
 Year Title Role  1974  Timothy  1975 The UFO Incident   1977    1978 Star Wars Holiday Special Darth Vader (voice)  1980 Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones Father Divine  1984    1990 By Dawn's Early Light Alice 1990 Heat Wave   1992   Lincoln Narrator  1993  Percy & Thunder Percy   1994  Confessions: Two Faces of Evil   1994   1994 Rod Serling's Lost Classics Host   1994  Bah, Humbug! Narrator / Ebenezer Scrooge  1995  People: A Musical Celebration The Storyteller (voice)   1996  Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault   1996 Timepiece Lawrence  1997  Alone Grey  1997 What the Deaf Man Heard   1997   1999  Santa and Pete Grandpa Nicholas  1999 Summer's End   2001  Older Marcel  2005  William  2009  5-Toe (voice)  

Narrator
 Year Title Notes  1970 King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis   1980 There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace: Life in the Negro Baseball Leagues Documentary  1992 Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama  1994 Africa: The SerengetiDocumentary  1995  Who's in Rabbit's House? Audio book  2001 Black Indians: An American Story  2002 Disney's American Legends  2004 Nine Dog Christmas Video  2006   2007 Earth Documentary 

Theatre
 Year Title Role Venue  19581959 Sunrise at Campobello EdwardCort Theatre 1960Eugene O'Neill Theatre 19611964St. Mark's Playhouse 1961Clandestine on the Morning LineActors' Playhouse 1961Living Theatre 1962Prince of MoroccoDelacorte Theater 1962P.S. 193Writers Stage Theatre 1963	Writers Stage Theatre 1963CamilloDelacorte Theater 1963Next Time I'll Sing to YouRudgePhoenix Theatre 1964Cricket Theatre 19641965OthelloOthelloMartinique Theatre / Delacorte Theater 1965BaalEkartMartinique Theatre 1965CoriolanusDelacorte Theater 1965Troilus and CressidaAjaxDelacorte Theater 1965 Danton's DeathVivian Beaumont Theatre 1966Longacre Theatre 19681970Alvin Theatre 1970Les BlancsLongacre Theatre 1972HamletClaudiusDelacorte Theater 19721973LopahinJoseph Papp Public Theater/Anspacher Theater 1973King LearLearDelacorte Theater 19731974Circle in the Square Theatre 19741975Of Mice and MenLennieBrooks Atkinson Theatre 1978Paul RobesonLunt-Fontanne Theatre / Booth Theatre 19801981Playhouse Theatre 1982OthelloOthelloWinter Garden Theatre 19821983"Master Harold"...and the BoysLyceum Theatre 19871988Fences46th Street Theatre 2005On Golden PondCort Theatre 2008Cat on a Hot Tin RoofBig DaddyBroadhurst Theatre 20102011, 2013Driving Miss DaisyJohn Golden Theatre (20102011)Australian Tour (2013) 2012Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre 20142015You Can't Take It with YouLongacre Theatre

Video game
 Year Title Role Notes  1999 Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun General James Solomon Live action cutscenes 2000 The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure Mufasa 	 2005 Kingdom Hearts II Mufasa 	 2007 Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga Darth Vader 	

References

Other websites



 James Earl Jones  at the Internet Off-Broadway Database

 James Earl Jones at Emmys.com
 TonyAwards.com Interview with James Earl Jones 
 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof All African-American Production Website 

Category:1931 births
Category:2024 deaths
Category:Actors from Mississippi
Category:African-American actors
Category:American movie actors
Category:American television actors
Category:American voice actors
Category:American Emmy Award winning actors
Category:Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Category:Tony Award winning actors
Category:American stage actors
Category:Deaths from diabetes