Adieu James Earl Jones (1931-2024)

Veteran American actor James Earl Jones passed away yesterday at his New York home at the age of 93.

Son of actor Robert Earl Jones, James left his mark in film, television, stage and voice acting, during his decades' long career.   Known for his deep, booming voice, he voiced Darth Vader in Star Wars, Mufasa in The Lion King franchise  and was the unseen announcer of CNN. In 1969, he  won a Tony award for his performance as boxer Jack   Jefferson in "The Great White Hope", a role he reprised in the 1970 film adaptation. He won his second Tony for his performance as Troy Maxson in August Wilson's play "Fences" in 1987. In 2017, he was awarded  a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. 

His film credits include Coming To America, Field of Dreams, The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, Clear & Present Danger and Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins. He starred in the short lived detective series, Gabriel's Fire, Roots: The Next Generations as an older Alex Haley,  Square One TV and Mathnet, and made appearances in Seseame Street, Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories, a guest voice actor in The Simpsons, Star Wars Rebels and The Big Bang Theory as himself. His stage work include Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Driving Miss Daisy. 

Adieu sir. 

                                                 

Video: James Earl Jones as Troy Maxson and Courtney B. Vance as his son Cory  in the 1987  Broadway  production of the play "Fences" at the 46th Street Theatre (now Richard Rodgers Theatre), New York. 

#ripjamesearljones #reelillustrated #fencesplaybill