James Earl Jones, the distinguished actor behind the voice of Darth Vader, has died at age 93, according to Deadline.
Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, in 1931. After managing to overcome a speech impediment, Jones went on to have a massive acting career, with credits spanning dozens of plays, TV shows, and films over several decades. He got his start on Broadway, starring in Sunrise At Campobello at the Cort Theatre in 1958 — now known as the James Earl Jones Theatre.
However, his 1977 role in the very first Star Wars left a huge mark on his audience, though he wasn’t initially credited for voicing the villain as a courtesy to David Prowse, who wore Darth Vader’s suit. While Jones is best known for his distinctive voice in the Star Wars series, he has voiced Mufasa in The Lion King (1994 and 2019). Jones also appeared in Field of Dreams, The Sandlot, Coming to America, Conan the Barbarian, and much more. He is among the small group of actors who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony — the coveted EGOT.
In 2022, Jones signed over the rights to his archival voice work to a Ukrainian AI voice startup, Respeecher, allowing the company to recreate the sound of his voice for Disney Plus’ Obi-Wan Kenobi.