James Earl Jones is a talented American actor whose career spans more than seven decades. He became known for providing the voice of Darth Vader in “Star Wars” and won a Tony Award and a Golden Globe Award for The Great White Hope. He started his acting career as a stage carpenter at the Ramsdell Theatre in Michigan. In 1962, he made his first TV show appearance as himself on “Lamp Unto My Feet” whereas he made his theatrical film debut as Lt. Lothar Zogg in “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” in 1964. James had a stutter as a child but overcame it to cultivate his distinctive bass voice. He has also provided the voice of Mufasa in “The Lion King”. Additionally, Jones reprised the role of King Jaffe Joffer in “Coming 2 America” (2021) which is the sequel to “Coming to America” (1988).
Famous For
- Being an American actor whose career spans more than seven decades.
- For providing the voice of Darth Vader in “Star Wars”.
Source: @qnewshub
James Earl Jones Nationality: Where he is from?
James Earl Jones was born on 17th January 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi, the U.S. He holds American nationality and he belongs to mixed ethnicity as his parents were both of mixed African-American, Irish, and Native American ancestry. Similarly, his religious belief is in the Catholic religion and his race is white. Jones recently celebrated his 91st birthday in 2022 and as per his birthdate, his zodiac sign is Capricorn. He is the son of his mother, Ruth Earl Jones; (1911-1986), a teacher and maid, and his father, Robert Earl Jones (1910-2006), a boxer, butler, and chauffeur. His father left the family shortly after James Earl’s birth and later became a stage and screen actor in New York and Hollywood. James also has one sibling named Matthew Earl Jones.
Talking about James’s education, he was educated at the Browning School for boys in his high school years and graduated as vice president of his class from Dickson Rural Agricultural School. He attended the University of Michigan, where he was initially a pre-med major. Later, he focused on the drama at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance with the thought of doing something he enjoyed, before, he assumed, he would have to go off to fight in the Korean War. After four years of college, Jones graduated from the university in 1955.
James Earl Jones Career Timeline
Military service
- James Earl Jones worked as a part-time stage crew hand at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan, where he had earlier performed.
- He was commissioned in mid-1953, after the Korean War’s end, and reported to Fort Benning to attend the Infantry Officers Basic Course.
- He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 38th Regimental Combat Team, and was promoted to the first lieutenant prior to his discharge.
- Later he moved to New York, where he studied at the American Theatre Wing and worked as a janitor to support himself.
Early roles
- James kicks off his acting career at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan where he performed his first portrayal of Shakespeare’s “Othello” in this theater in 1955 whereas his early career also included an appearance in the ABC radio anthology series “Theatre-Five”.
- He then made his Broadway debut as an understudy to Lloyd Richards in the short-lived play “The Egghead” by Molly Kazan in 1957.
- He made his film debut in Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” (1964) as the young Lt. Lothar Zog.
- He participated in making test films for the children’s education series “Sesame Street” in 1969 and appeared on the soap opera “Guiding Light”.
- He played Hickey on Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theater in a revival of Eugene O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh” in 1973 and reunited with Jane Alexander in the film adaptation of “The Great White Hope” in 1970.
- In “The Man” (1972), he was seen as a senator who unexpectedly becomes the first African-American president of the United States.
- He made his debut in his iconic voiceover role as Darth Vader in the science fiction blockbuster film “Star Wars: A New Hope” in 1977 and appeared on the short-lived CBS police drama “Paris” in 1979.
- Jones was featured in several other box office hits of the 1980s: the action/fantasy film “Conan the Barbarian” (1982), “Coming to America” (1988), “Field of Dreams” (1989), “Matewan” (1987).
- Later, he lent his bass voice as Pharaoh in the first episode of Hanna-Barbera’s The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible” in 1985 as well as he served as the host of the children’s TV series “Long Ago and Far Away” from 1989 to 1992. He also lent his distinctive bass voice for the role of Mufasa in the 1994 Disney animated film “The Lion King”.
- Likewise, he has starred in several films and TV series such as “Law & Order”, “Frasier”, “Two and a Half Men”, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, and many others.
- He also narrated all 27 books of the New Testament in the audiobook “James Earl Jones Reads the Bible” and returned to the Broadway stage in Alfred Uhry’s “Driving Miss Daisy” in October 2010.
- He played the role of President Art Hockstader in Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man” on Broadway at the Schoenfeld Theatre in March 2012 and opened in a new revival of “The Gin Game” on 23rd September 2015.
- He starred as the Chief Justice Caleb Thorne in the American drama series “Agent X” in 2015 and he officially reprised his voice role of Darth Vader for the character’s appearances in the animated TV series “Star Wars Rebels” and the live-action film “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (2016), as well as for a brief voice cameo in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” (2019). He reprised his voice role of Mufasa for the CGI remake of “The Lion King” in 2019.
- James reprised the role of King Jaffe Joffer in “Coming 2 America” (2021) which is the sequel to “Coming to America” (1988).
- Furthermore, his theatre work includes numerous Broadway plays, including “Sunrise at Campobello” (1958-1959), “Danton’s Death” (1965), “The Iceman Cometh” (1973-1974), “Of Mice and Men” (1974-1975), “Othello” (1982), “On Golden Pond” (2005), “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (2008) and “You Can’t Take It with You” (2014-2015).
Source: @tcm.com
Awards and Achievements
- Academy Awards
- Tony Awards for his work in “The Great White Hope”
- Emmy Awards for his work in “Gabriel’s Fire”
- Grammy Awards for his work in “Great American Documents”
- Golden Globe Awards for his work in “The Great White Hope”
- Screen Actors Guild Awards
Who is James Earl Jones married to?
James Earl Jones is a married guy. He married American actress/singer Julienne Marie in 1968, whom he met while performing as Othello in 1964. They had no children and divorced in 1972. He then tied a knot with actress Cecilia Hart in 1982, with whom he had one child, son Flynn (born 1982). Hart sadly died from ovarian cancer on 16th October 2016. Concerning James’s sexual orientation, he is straight.
Source: @people
How much money does James Earl Jones make?
James Earl Jones has a net worth of $50 million as of 2022. He also earns a fine amount of salary which is around $7.28 million per year. James also has done endorsement work for brands such as Bell Atlantic, Verizon, Sprint, from where he gains a handsome amount of money. In addition, his major source of income is from his acting career.
What is the Height of James Earl Jones?
James Earl Jones stands at a tall height of 6 ft 1.5 in or 186.5 cm with a balanced body weight of 85 kg or 187.5 lbs. As he is getting older day by day, he has grey hair and blue eyes color. Moreover, his body build type is average and his body measurement is 32-26-32 inches. In April 2016, Jones spoke publicly for the first time in nearly 20 years about his long-term health challenge with type 2 diabetes. He was diagnosed in the mid-1990s after his doctor noticed he had fallen asleep while exercising at a gym.
Leave a Reply