James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor. A pioneer for Black actors in the entertainment industry, he was acclaimed for his performances on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few performers to achieve the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony). He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1985 and was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1992, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2009, and the Academy Honorary Award in 2011.

Born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, Jones overcame a childhood stutter. A pre-med major in college, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army during the Korean War before pursuing a career in acting. His deep voice was praised as a "stirring basso profondo that has lent gravel and gravitas" to his projects. Jones made his Broadway debut in the play Sunrise at Campobello (1957) and gained fame starring in several productions with Shakespeare in the Park including Othello (1964), Coriolanus (1965), Hamlet (1972), and King Lear (1973).

For his roles on Broadway, Jones won two Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Play for playing a boxer in the Howard Sackler play The Great White Hope (1968) and a working class father in August Wilson's Fences (1987). He was nominated for other Tonys for his roles as part of an elderly couple in On Golden Pond (2005) and as a former president in The Best Man (2012). Jones acted in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008), Driving Miss Daisy (2010–2011), You Can't Take It with You (2014), and The Gin Game (2015). He received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2017.

On film, Jones made his acting debut in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964). He reprised his Broadway role in the film adaptation of The Great White Hope (1970), earning a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He gained international fame for his voice roles such as Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise and Mufasa in The Lion King (1994). He acted in The Man (1972), Claudine (1974), Conan the Barbarian (1982), Matewan (1987), Coming to America (1988), Field of Dreams (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Sneakers (1992), The Sandlot (1993), and Cry, the Beloved Country (1995).