JAMES EARL JONES
1931-

Jones, James Earl (b. January 17, 1931, Arkabutla, Mississippi), African American stage, film, and television actor, whose resonant bass voice is instantly recognizable.

Jones's deep, resonant voice has reached countless millions of people, in particular as Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy (1977, 1980, 1983), as father lion Mustafa in The Lion King (1994), and as the official voice of the telephone company Bell Atlantic. During his youth, however, Jones avoided speaking altogether for several years because of a pronounced stutter. "I was unable to talk from the age of eight to the age of 15," he recalled in a 1979 Jet magazine interview. "... I thought, if I can't say it, I just won't make an ass of myself ... so I didn't talk." But while he was in high school, his English teacher discovered that Jones wrote poetry and took an interest in him, giving him the incentive to overcome his speech impediment.

In 1949 he entered the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and majored in drama, although he had initially intended to study medicine. He graduated magna cum laude in 1953 and, after a stint in the military, moved to New York City. In 1957 Jones made his professional debut in New York City. During the 1960s he had a long association with Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. Jones also gained prominence as part of an all-black production of Jean Genet's The Blacks. Over the years he tackled a wide range of Shakespearean roles, including Othello, King Lear, and Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 1960 he won his first leading role in Lionel Abel's The Pretender.

Jones found success in motion pictures as well as on stage (see Blacks in American Film). In 1966 he played the fictional boxer Jack Jefferson, who is closely modeled on Jack Johnson (1878-1946), in Howard Sackler's The Great White Hope. In 1968 the play moved to Broadway, and a year later Jones's portrayal earned him a Tony Award. Reprising the role in the 1970 movie version, Jones was nominated for an Academy Award as best actor and won a Golden Globe for best new male talent. In 1966 he made his television debut in the daytime drama As the World Turns (see Television and African Americans). During the 1970s he pursued a busy schedule of film and stage acting with occasional television appearances.

In 1977 and 1978 Jones encountered controversy while playing the title role in Paul Robeson, a dramatic recounting of the singer-activist's life (see Paul Robeson). The play unintentionally sparked widespread opposition from the black intellectual community. Picketers appeared outside of theaters during the production's tour, insisting that the play misrepresented Robeson's life, and prominent African Americans — including actor Ossie Davis, civil rights activist Coretta Scott King, and writers James Baldwin and Maya Angelou — publicly criticized the production. In retrospect, Paul Robeson has been credited with helping to reawaken interest in Robeson's life and accomplishments. In his 1993 autobiography, James Earl Jones: Voices and Silences, Jones noted that in recent years the play, under the sponsorship of Malcolm X's daughter, Attilah Shabazz, has been "performed … all over the country, without any form of protest."

Jones's long career has produced many finely honed performances. During 1985-1987, he won critical praise and a second Tony Award for his lead role in August Wilson's drama Fences. On television, he portrayed Alex Haley in Roots: The Next Generations (1979), the sequel to the 1977 miniseries Roots. Jones also appeared in such memorable films as John Sayles's Matewan (1987), Phil Alden Robinson's Field of Dreams (1989), and Darrel James Roodt's Cry the Beloved Country (1995). Since the late 1950s Jones has had a prolific and busy acting career. "I might cry for great dramas being written for me," he remarked in a 1980 interview, "but until one is, I'll take a crack at almost anything."