The film, TV and voice actor died at his home in Dutchess County, New York, his representative told Variety.
Jones’ career spanned 60 years, from his first stint on Broadway in 1958 to Coming to America in 2021 — just one of several roles he revisited during his life, including Darth Vader and the voice of The Lion King’s Mufasa in the original 1994 film and the 2019 remake.
James Earl Jones voiced Mufasa in the original The Lion King and the 2019 remake. Photo / Disney
He also played CIA deputy director Vice Admiral James Greer in the Jack Ryan films The Hunt for the Red October, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger.
Jones made his feature film debut in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove in 1964, and other notable films included Field of Dreams, The Sandlot, The Man and Cry, the Beloved Country.
The actor was nominated for four Tony Awards, winning two — the first in 1969 for The Great White Hope, a role he reprised in 1970, landing an Oscar nomination — and the second in 1987 for Fences. He was nominated for eight Emmy awards, winning two in 1991 — the first time an actor was awarded two Emmys in one year.
Jones was awarded a Kennedy Centre Honour in 2002, a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement in 2009, an honorary Oscar in 2011, and a lifetime achievement Tony in 2017. He is one of only a few actors to receive an EGOT — an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award — having been awarded a Grammy in 1977 for a spoken word album.
Elsewhere, he was the voice of several documentaries as well as the US news channel CNN’s tagline, and had more than 70 TV credits to his name, guest starring on The Simpsons, Frasier, House and others.
The prolific actor was paid US$7000 to voice Darth Vader in Star Wars: A New Hope, but asked not to be credited on screen for the film as well as The Empire Strikes Back, out of respect for David Prowse, who played Vader. However, he was credited on Return of the Jedi and voiced the iconic villain again in Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
James Earl Jones and his wife, Cecilia Hart, pictured in 2016. Photo / Getty Images
Jones’ first marriage was to actress and singer Julienne Marie. His second wife, Cecilia Hart, to whom he was married for 34 years, died in 2016. Earl is survived by his son, Flynn Earl Jones.
