James Earl Jones with President George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush in 1992. (Photo: George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum)
DUTCHESS COUNTY, NY (CelebrityAccess) — James Earl Jones, a veteran actor of stage and screen, best known for providing his distinctive baritone for the voice of the Star Wars villain Darth Vader, has died. He was 93.
Born in Mississippi, Jones relocated to Michigan with his family and went on to attend the University of Michigan, where he was enrolled in the pre-med program and the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.
Starting in 1953, he was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. military and served in the 38th Regimental Combat Team and helped to establish a cold-weather training command at the former Camp Hale near Leadville, Colorado.
After leaving the military, Jones studied at the American Theatre Wing and appeared on stage with a focus on Shakespeare before landing his first credited film role in 1964 as a member of a bomber crew in Stanley Kubrick’s dark comedy masterpiece Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb in 1964.
He went on to lend his distinctive voice to Darth Vader, the villain of George Lucas’ epic sci-fi trilogy Star Wars, the role for which he is likely best known, but also appeared in films such as “Exorcist II: The Heretic” (1977), Coming to America (1988), Field of Dreams (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), and the Lion King (1994) among numerous others.
His theatrical credits include Of Mice & Men (1974), Driving Miss Daisy (2010) and The Gin Game (2016) among others.
During his lengthy career, Jones was the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Tony Awards, two Primetime Emmys, and a Grammy Award. He was also inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1985 and he was presented with an Academy Honorary Award in 2011.
In 1992, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by U.S. President George H. W. Bush.
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