By Geoffrey Huchel
Hollywood is mourning the death of acclaimed actor James Earl Jones, who famously provided the voice of Darth Vader in the STAR WARS films and Mufasa in the Disney animated film THE LION KING. Jones passed away September 9, 2024 at his home in Dutchess County, New York. The cause of death was not disclosed. He was 93.
Celebrities who’ve worked with Jones are taking to social media to honor the actor. Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker opposite Jones’ voice work as Darth Vader, posted a photo of himself with Jones on his Instagram and wrote in a caption, “One of the world’s finest actors whose contributions to Star Wars were immeasurable. He’ll be greatly missed. #RIP dad”
Jones was one of the few performers to achieve the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony).
Early in his career, Jones performed on stage, acting in various works of William Shakespeare. He performed in “Othello”, “King Lear”, “A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream”, “Measure for Measure” and “Hamlet”, and in Broadway productions of “The Iceman Cometh” and “Of Mice and Men”, among many others.
Jones provided the voice for Darth Vader in the original STAR WARS trilogy: STAR WARS: EPISODE IV- A NEW HOPE (1977), STAR WARS: EPISODE V- THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) and STAR WARS: EPISODE VI- RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983). He reprised Darth Vader in additional incarnations of the STAR WARS saga, such as STAR WARS: EPISODE III- REVENGE OF THE SITH (2005), ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY (2016), STAR WARS: REBELS (2014-2018), STAR WARS: EPISODE IX- THE RISE OF SKYWALKER (2019), and OBI-WAN KENOBI (2022). Jones may be widely known for voicing Darth Vader and Mufasa in the original THE LION KING (1995), the sequel THE LIOK KING II: SIMBA’S PRDE (1998) and the 2019 remake THE LION KING, but he has an extensive career in both film and television. His additional filmography includes: CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982), COMING TO AMERICA (1988), FIELD OF DREAMS (1989), TE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990), GABRIEL’S FIRE (1990-1991), PATRIOT GAMES (1992), THE SANDLOT (1993), JUDGE DREDD (1995), PRIMARY COLORS (1998), ROBOTS (2005), THE SANDLOT 2 (2005), CLICK (2006), THE BIG BANG THEORY (2007-2019) and COMING 2 AMERICA (2021).
Ringside Report sends our condolences to James Earl Jones’ family during their time of grief.
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