James Earl Jones, the EGOT-winning actor who voiced Mufasa in The Lion King and Star Wars’ Darth Vader among other notable roles, died on Monday (Sept. 9) at age 93 at his home in Dutchess County, New York.
Born on January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla, MS, Jones developed a severe stutter in his youth until he encountered a “great English teacher [in high school] who believed in language,” per a 2009 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. He explained, “He looked at a poem I wrote and said, ‘It’s too good for you to have written, so to prove you wrote it, please stand up in front of the class and recite it from memory.’ And I did it without stuttering. So he used that as a program to get me to talk.”
In college, he initially planned to study medicine, but switched gears to drama. He made his theater debut in the 1957 off-Broadway play, Wedding In Japan. He went on to star in several Shakespearean plays before becoming the first Black actor to get a recurring role on a daytime soap opera with his role on As The World Turns.
Jones went on to star in films and television shows such as Coming to America, The Lion King, Star Wars, Roots, and many more. Throughout his storied career, he became one of the few actors to have won the coveted EGOT.
He earned his first Oscar nomination in 1971 before earning an honorary Academy Award in 2012. He won his two Emmys in 1991, a Grammy in 1977, and three Tony Awards—two competitively 1969 and 1987 for his performances as Jack Jefferson in The Great White Hope and Troy Maxson in August Wilson’s Fences. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Tonys in 2017 for his indelible mark on Broadway.
His wife of 34 years, Cecilia Hart, preceded him in death in 2016. Jones is survived by the couple’s only child, Flynn Earl Jones. VIBE sends our deepest condolences to the family during this time.
