Darth Vader voice, Field of Dreams star, EGOT winner

James Earl Jones, the revered actor who star Wars Villain Darth Vader, played in Field of Dreams and many other films and Broadway shows and is an EGOT winner, died this morning at his home in Dutchess County, NY. He was 93 years old.

His representatives at the Independent Artist Group confirmed the news to Deadline.

Jones is considered one of the world’s greatest stage and screen actors and is one of the few entertainers to have won the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony), although his Oscar was only an honorary award. Jones has received two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Daytime Emmy, a spoken-word Grammy Award in 1977 and three Tony Awards.

Starting with the Stanley Kubrick classic Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), Jones starred in some of the most successful films of all time. He is probably best known for his voice role as Darth Vader in the original star Wars Trilogy. He also reprised the role of the villain in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019) and TV’s Obi-Wan Kenobi And Star Wars: Rebels.

Jones also commented The Lion King‘s Mufasa in both the 1994 animated film and the 2019 hybrid remake. He also lent his sonorous voice to the cable news channel’s famous “This is CNN” advertising campaign.

He was born on January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla, MS. His numerous films include Conan the Barbarian (1982), Coming to America (1988), Hunt for Red October (1990), The sandbank (1990), The Patriot Games (1992) and sneakers (1992). He also appeared on The Simpsons three times.

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For his role in The great white hope (1971) and received an honorary Oscar at the 2012 ceremony. He was nominated for an Emmy eight times, both of his awards coming in 1991: Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Gabriel’s Fire and supporting actor in a miniseries or a special for heat wave.

Jones is also an impressive presence on the Broadway stage and has been nominated four times for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, winning the award twice for his portrayal of Jack Jefferson in The great white hope 1969 and as Troy Maxson in August Wilson’s Fences in 1987. At the 2017 ceremony he received a Special Tony Award. Most recently he appeared on Broadway in The Gin Game (2017).

In September 2022, the Shubert Organization renamed its 110-year-old Cort Theater The James Earl Jones Theater. The dedication ceremony was attended by Samuel L. Jackson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Norm Lewis and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

“You can’t think of an artist who has served America more,” Broadway director Kenny Leon told the Associated Press at the time. Jones did not attend the dedication ceremony, but had been given a private tour of the facility the week before.

Jones was also honored with a Kennedy Center Award in 2002 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from SAG-AFTRA in 2009 and from the National Board of Review in 1995.

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