James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is a multi-award-winning American actor of theater and film, well known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership. He is known for providing the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise and the tagline for CNN. James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, the son of Ruth (née Connolly) and Robert Earl Jones. At the age of five, he moved to Jackson, Michigan, to be raised by his maternal grandparents, but the adoption was traumatic and he developed a stutter so severe he refused to speak aloud. When he moved to Brethren, Michigan in later years a teacher at the Brethren schools started to help him with his stutter. He remained functionally mute for eight years until he reached high school. He credits his high school teacher, Donald Crouch, who discovered he had a gift for writing poetry, with helping him out of his silence. Jones attended the University of Michigan where he was a pre-med major. While there, he joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps, and excelled. During the course of his studies, Jones discovered he was not cut out to be a doctor. Instead he focused himself on drama, with the thought of doing something he enjoyed, before, he assumed, he would have to go off to fight in the Korean War. After four years of college, Jones left without his degree. In 1953 he found a part-time stage crew job at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan, which marked the beginning of his acting career. During the 1955–1957 seasons he was an actor and stage manager. He performed his first portrayal of Shakespeare’s Othello in this theater in 1955. After his discharge from the Military, Jones moved to New York, where he attended the American Theatre Wing to further his training and worked as a janitor to earn a living. His first film role was as a young and trim Lt. Lothar Zogg, the B-52 bombardier in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb in 1964. His first big role came with his portrayal of boxer Jack Jefferson in the film version of the Broadway play The Great White Hope, which was based on the life of boxer Jack Johnson. For his role, Jones was nominated Best Actor by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, making him the second African-American male performer (following Sidney Poitier) to receive a nomination. In 1969, Jones participated in making test films for a proposed children's television series; these shorts, combined with animated segments were the beginnings of the Sesame Street format. The next year, in the early 1970s, James appeared with Diahann Carroll in the film called Claudine. While he has appeared in many roles, he is well known as the voice of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy. Darth Vader was portrayed in costume by David Prowse in the original trilogy, with Jones dubbing Vader's dialogue in postproduction due to Prowse's strong West Country accent being unsuitable for the role. At his own request, he was originally uncredited for the release of the first two films (he would later be credited for the two in the 1997 re-release). His other voice roles include Mufasa in the 1994 film Disney animated blockbuster The Lion King, and its direct-to-video sequel, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. He also has done the CNN tagline, "This is CNN", as well as "This is CNN International", and the Bell Atlantic tagline, "Bell Atlantic: The heart of communication". When Bell Atlantic became Verizon, Jones used the tagline greeting of "Welcome to Verizon" or "Verizon 411" right before a phone call would go through. The opening for NBC's coverage of the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics; "the Big PI in the Sky" (God) in the computer game Under a Killing Moon; a Claymation film about The Creation; and several guest spots on The Simpsons. In addition to his film and voice over work, Jones is an accomplished stage actor as well; he has won Tony awards in 1969 for The Great White Hope and in 1987 for Fences. Othello, King Lear, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Abhorson in Measure for Measure, and Claudius in Hamlet are Shakespearean roles he has played. He received Kennedy Center Honors in 2002. Jones has been married to actress Cecilia Hart since 1982. They have one child, Flynn Earl Jones. He was previously married to American actress/singer Julienne Marie (born March 21, 1933, Toledo, Ohio); they had no children. Jones is a registered Republican.
Known for
Butterfly in the Sky
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street
Coming 2 America
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The Movies That Made Us
On Broadway
Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage
The Lion King
The Space: Theatre of Survival
Words from a Bear
Warning Shot
The Lion Guard: Life In The Pride Lands
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
God Bless You, Mr Rosewater
The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar
Driving Miss Daisy
Star Wars Rebels: The Siege of Lothal
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
Star Wars Rebels
Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn
Gimme Shelter
Muse of Fire
Blackfish
Milius
An Amazing Time: A Conversation About End of the Road
Joe Papp in Five Acts
Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey
Jack and the Beanstalk
Waking Sleeping Beauty
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
Earth
The Big Bang Theory
John, Paul, George and Ben
Searching for Orson
The One Show
Click
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
Scary Movie 4
The Benchwarmers
Hollywood's Greatest Villains
The Sandlot 2
The Reading Room
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Robots
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
House
No Fighting in the War Room Or: 'Dr Strangelove' and the Nuclear Threat
Nine Dog Christmas
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy
The Story of Star Wars
The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror
Two and a Half Men
Beneath the Surface: The Making of 'The Hunt for Red October'
Everwood
Fredericksburg: A Documentary Film
Muhammad Ali - Through The Eyes Of The World
Feast of All Saints
Recess Christmas: Miracle On Third Street
According to Jim
Finder's Fee
Disney's American Legends
Antietam: A Documentary Film
Conan Unchained: The Making of 'Conan'
Inside: 'Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'
The Art of Stanley Kubrick: From Short Films to Strangelove
Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light
Fantasia 2000
Santa and Pete
The Annihilation of Fish
Undercover Angel
On the Q.T.
Our Friend, Martin
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
Will & Grace
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies
Merlin
Primary Colors
The Second Civil War
What the Deaf Man Heard
Gang Related
Casper: A Spirited Beginning
Stargate SG-1
Star Wars: The Magic & the Mystery
Timepiece
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault
Looking for Richard
A Family Thing
Cry, the Beloved Country
Who's in Rabbit's House?
Judge Dredd
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
The Making of 'Jurassic Park'
Jefferson in Paris
Under One Roof
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable
Signs and Wonders
People: A Musical Celebration
Clear and Present Danger
The Making of the Lion King
Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics
Clean Slate
Africa: The Serengeti
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
Gangs: Turning the Corner
Confessions: Two Faces of Evil
The Vernon Johns Story
Michael Jackson: Dangerous - The Short Films
Frasier
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Percy & Thunder
The Meteor Man
Dreamrider
Excessive Force
The Sandlot
Sommersby
Homicide: Life on the Street
Sneakers
Patriot Games
Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories
Pros and Cons
True Identity
Scorchers
Visitors from the Unknown
Convicts
Grim Prairie Tales
Law & Order
Gabriel's Fire
Ivory Hunters
Heat Wave
By Dawn's Early Light
The Ambulance
The Hunt for Red October
Teach 109
The Simpsons
11-22-63: The Day the Nation Cried
Best of the Best
Golden Book Video - Beauty and the Beast
Field of Dreams
Three Fugitives
The Hunting of the Snark
Terrorgram
Coming to America
Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues
Matewan
Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night
Gardens of Stone
Mathnet
Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold
Soul Man
L.A. Law
My Little Girl
Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp
The Lone Star Kid
City Limits
Night of 100 Stars II
The Atlanta Child Murders
Visual Pathfinders: Robert Abel & Associates
The Flight of Dragons
The Vegas Strip War
CBS Schoolbreak Special
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
Reading Rainbow
Return of the Jedi
Blood Tide
Amy and the Angel
Faerie Tale Theatre
Conan the Barbarian
Night of 100 Stars
The Bushido Blade
There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace: Life in the Negro Baseball Leagues
God's Trombones
The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story
The Empire Strikes Back
The Me Nobody Knows
Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones
Paris
A Walking Tour of Sesame Street
Roots: The Next Generations
Paul Robeson
Black Theatre: The Making of a Movement
The Kennedy Center Honors
The Star Wars Holiday Special
The Magic of David Copperfield
The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened
A Piece of the Action
The Making of Star Wars
Exorcist II: The Heretic
The Last Remake of Beau Geste
Star Wars
The Greatest
Jesus of Nazareth
Swashbuckler
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings
The River Niger
Deadly Hero
The UFO Incident
The Cay
Claudine
King Lear
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Black Omnibus
The Man
Malcolm X
Martin Luther King, Jr.: Legacy of a Dream
Great Performances
The Great White Hope
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
End of the Road
Sesame Street
The Dick Cavett Show
The Comedians
Tarzan
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
East Side/West Side
Dr. Kildare
The Defenders
Tony Awards
Hallmark Hall of Fame
The Ed Sullivan Show
Acting
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
—
Jack Jefferson (segment "The Great White Hope") / Troy Maxson (segment "Fences")
Inside: 'Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'
—
Self - 'Lieutenant Lothar Zogg'