Asher Gibbons & Savannah Pennington
Staff Writers
James Earl Jones, the highly respected actor who voiced the “Star Wars” villain Darth Vader, Mufasa in Disney’s “The Lion King”, starred in many and Broadway productions died Sept. 9 in his home in Dutchess County, New York.
Jones’ acting career began in theater, where he made his Broadway debut in 1957 with “Sunrise at Campobello.” His performance garnered a substantial amount of attention, setting the stage for a career that would redefine the scope of American stage acting and performing.
Jones is widely regarded as being among the world’s greatest stage and screen actors. He is one of few actors to have won the “EGOT” – an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Additionally, he won an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Daytime Emmy and three Tony Awards.
James Earl Jones racked up approximately 200 screen credits during his 60-year-long career. Beginning in the early 60s, Jones took part in a variety of TV shows including “The Joan Rivers Show,” “What’s My Line?,” “Long Ago and Far Away,” “World of Discovery,” as well as countless others.
He also played Lt. Lothar Zogg in Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 classic “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”
Jones is most known for his voice acting role as the villainous Darth Vader in George Lucas’ original Star Wars trilogy: “Star Wars,” “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.” His portrayal of Darth Vader, the deep resonant voice, became an integral part of the Star Wars brand.
He would later come back to the franchise as the voice of Darth Vader for “Star Wars: Episode III–Revenge of the Sith,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Star Wars: Episode IX–The Rise of Skywalker,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi” as well as “Star Wars: Rebels.”
“I don’t think another voice could have played Vader. With how iconic that it is, I don’t know if anybody else would have captured that,” sophomore Becca Scali said.
According to the Associated Press, Jones’ voice will live on through “Respeecher,” an Artificial Intelligence tool used to recreate voices from past films. This technology has controversially been implemented in the creation of the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series for Jones’ iconic role as Vader and “The Mandalorian” series to de-age Mark Hamill’s voice as Luke Skywalker. Scali, however, disapproves stating, “May we never hear Jones’ voice in AI.” She is not alone in this sentiment, as AI was the reason for a strike seen this past July by SAG-AFTRA.
This generation of college students grew up with access to golden-age Disney films such as “The Little Mermaid,” “Finding Nemo,” “Toy Story” and “The Lion King.” Jones’ portrayal of Mufasa featured a voice that many consider to be the most soothing and distinctive among Disney movie characters.
“If I heard him somewhere else, I’d be like. Oh, that’s Mufasa,” said Scali.
For sports fans, Jones also was a part of great films such as “The Sandlot” and “Field of Dreams.” “The Sandlot” was one that impacted the life of Scali, kick starting for her deep dive into older movies such as, “The Breakfast Club” and “Dirty Dancing.” She also developed a liking to the sport of baseball that continues today, which was fully attributed to “The Sandlot.”
“Field of Dreams” is more significant for the previous generation of current-day adults and still holds merit today. In the film, Jones has a very memorable speech on the importance of baseball.
“America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time,” Jones said in the film.
Jones’ voice acting talents are all the more monumental given that he developed a stutter as a child that continued throughout his life. Jones’ path to overcoming his stutter would lead to a remarkable career both on Broadway and in Hollywood.
He broke ground on various soap operas appearing on “Guiding Light” and “As the World Turns”; he worked with notable directors such as Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas and James Ivory; won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word; and narrated various audiobooks such as “The Bible: King James Version,” and “Driving Miss Daisy.”
Off-screen, James Earl Jones was known for his commitment to both education and philanthropy. He supported various charities and educational institutions, including the University of Michigan, where he had studied.
His dedication to mentoring up-and-coming actors and supporting emerging talent further cemented his legacy as a beloved and respected father figure in the entertainment industry. His voice is described by many as one of the most memorable in cinematic and entertainment history, and his performances will continue to inspire and encourage audiences for generations to come.
