James Earl Jones died at age 93. The man behind the iconic deep, soothing voice left this world on September 9, 2024. Fans will remember his work in The Lion King, Star Wars, Coming to America, and so much more.
James was born on January 17, 1931, in Arkabutla, Mississippi. He was raised in Dublin, Michigan, on his grandparents' farm. He is survived by his son, Flynn Earl Jones, whom he shared with wife Cecilia Hart. Cecilia died from ovarian cancer in 2016.
News of his death broke on September 9.
The world learned of James' passing from his agent Barry McPherson. A cause of death has not been released. "He passed this morning surrounded by his loved ones," Barry explained in statement released on September 9, 2024. "He was a great man."
His father left him to become an actor.
James was the son of Ruth Connolly and Robert Earl Jones. Robert left his family not too long after his son was born to pursue acting. He found success on the New York stage and Los Angeles screens. James and Robert would reconcile in the 1950s.
More from CafeMom: 10 Things Most People Probably Didn’t Know About the Late Gena Rowlands
James developed a stutter.
When James was 5 years old, he moved to Dublin, Michigan. His maternal grandparents, John Henry and Maggie Connolly, raised him on their family farm. This was a traumatic transition for the young boy. He developed a stutter and was essentially mute until a high school teacher took a special interest in him.
Donald Crouch, James' English teacher, discovered his student had a talent for writing poetry. He challenged him to read some aloud and sparked a love of performing in James that changed the course of his life forever.
He went on to study drama.
James was hooked on the power of the written word after his English class performance. “[My teacher] began to challenge me, to nudge me toward speaking again … toward acknowledging and appreciating the beauty of words,” James recalled. It worked.
After high school he studied drama at University of Michigan. He also served as an Army Ranger. After his time in the service, he moved to New York to pursue the stage.
He disagreed with George Lucas.
No one could have predicted the cultural phenomenon Star Wars would become. After wrapping filming of the first movie, George Lucas decided he wanted a distinctive voice for the villain character, Darth Vader. James recorded all the lines in a couple of hours, was paid $7,000 for his efforts, but was not mentioned in the movie's credits. Despite this, James was excited for the opportunity and had strong opinions what he should sound like.
“I wanted to make Darth Vader more interesting, more subtle, more psychologically oriented,” James recalled. “[George] said, ‘No, no … you’ve got to keep his voice on a very narrow band of inflection, ‘cause he ain’t human.’”
He struggled to find Mufasa's voice
James was also the voice behind another iconic character. This one is little bit furrier. It took some practice for him to find the perfect inflections for Mufasa in Disney's The Lion King.
“My first mistake was to try and make him regal,” James recalled. “And what they really needed was something more like me. They said, ‘What are you like as a father?’ and I said, ‘Well, I’m really a dopey dad.’”
This was an ah-ha moment that helped him find his character's perspective. “They began to impose my facial expressions onto Mufasa, and a different tone of voice,” James continued. “Yeah, he was authoritative, but he was just a gentle dad.”
He was the second African American man to be nominated for an Oscar.
James played Jack Jefferson in the 1970 film directed by Martin Ritt. The Great White Hope is based the real life boxer Jack Johnson. The film and play of the same name tell the story of Jack's relationship with his first wife, Etta Terry Duryea. James was nominated for an Oscar for his work in this film, making him only the second African American man to be given this honor. The first was Sidney Poitier. In 2011, he was given an honorary Academy Award for his lifetime of achievement.
He was the voice of CNN.
If you watch CNN, you might just hear James on the cable news station. He voiced its tagline: “This is CNN.” A spokesperson for the network honored his memory by stating that he “was the voice of CNN and our brand for many decades, uniquely conveying through speech instant authority, grace, and decorum.”
The network added: “That remarkable voice is just one of many things the world will miss about James.”
He never really retired.
James never officially retired from show business. In 2021, he worked on Coming 2 America, reprising his role of King Jaffe Joffer. His final credit came in 2022 when he lent his voice to the Disney+ mini series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Fans may hear more Darth Vader content.
The voice lives on.
Let's talk a bit more about that final credit. James' voice in Obi-Wan Kenobi was created with the help of artificial intelligence. When James was 91 years old, he signed over the rights to his archival voice work. Respeecher, a Ukrainian startup, used the previous recordings to clone a new, younger-sounding Vader. Because of this, it seems fair to say that fans can expect more Vader content because of James in the future.
