James Earl Jones Dead at 93

One of the true cinematic and stage icons of our time has left us.

James Earl Jones, who voiced Darth Vader in “Star Wars,” has passed away.

Jones was 93 years old.

A Legend is Gone

It did not take long for the news of the death of James Earl Jones to travel on Monday evening.

Jones has been one of my favorite actors for decades, with my only regret never seeing him act on stage.

He was brilliant on the big screen, the small screen, and live, and I would dare to say we may never see another triple threat like him again in our lifetime.

Like many actors, Jones enjoyed both stage and screen, breaking through with some small roles on daytime soaps before lining up a bunch of TV roles in the 1960s.

His first movie role was playing Dr. Magiot in “The Comedians,” in 1967, but the role that would change his life was playing Jack Jefferson in “The Great White Hope,” a boxing movie, in 1970.

That put him on everyone’s radar, and while racking up movie credits, he was asked to do the voiceover for Darth Vader in the 1977 blockbuster, “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.”

While David Prowse was the actor in the suit, he did not get nearly the accolades that Jones did for his voiceover work in the movie.

From that point forward, Jones and his voice were in demand and one of the hottest commodities in both Hollywood and Broadway (James continued to do stage work throughout his career).

I really enjoyed Jones in the Tom Clancy movies, such as “The Hunt for Red October.”

Jones would finish his career with 190 credits, with his last four credits coming from some of his most well-known work.

In 2019, he did the voiceover for Mufasa in “The Lion King.” He also did the Darth Vader voice for “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” and the “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” He also did the sequel for Eddie Murphy in “Coming 2 America,” playing King Jaffe Joffer.

I don’t have the space here to limit all of my favorite performances by Jones, so I will just thank him for the many wonderful memories associated with his movies.

Rest in peace, sir, for there will never be another like you.