James Earl Jones, Acting Legend, Dead At 93

LOS ANGELES, CA — James Earl Jones, the icon of stage and screen, has died. He was 93.

The legendary actor was known for his commanding screen presence and booming voice and for giving life to Darth Vader in "Star Wars" and Mufasa in Disney's "The Lion King."

His representatives confirmed to Deadline that Jones died at his home in Dutchess County, New York. The death of the legendary Grammy, Tony and Emmy Award-winner has sent fans and the entertainment industry into mourning.

Mark Hamill, who played Jones' son Luke Skywalker in the "Star Wars" franchise, tweeted simply, "dad" with a broken heart emoji.

SEE ALSO: James Earl Jones Dies: Honoring The Legendary Actor's Life in Photos

Few actors have achieved the stature of Jones, who was awarded the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in 2011 in recognition of “his legacy of consistent excellence and uncommon versatility.” His lifelong love of theater would keep him returning to the stage decade after decade, but he is perhaps best known for his voice roles as Darth Vader and Mufasa. It was that voice, its deep timbre somehow synonymous with dignity, that made him recognizable the world over.

In addition to Darth Vader and Mufasa, he gave voice to CNN with its famed tag, “This ... is CNN.”

It was an unlikely defining feature for an actor who spent his childhood feigning muteness. Through his early school years, Jones hid his voice from the world to hide a severe stutter that developed after he experienced childhood trauma.

Jones was born by the light of an oil lamp in a shack in Arkabutla, Mississippi, on Jan. 17, 1931. His father, Robert Earl Jones, had deserted his wife before the baby's arrival to pursue life as a boxer and, later, an actor.

When Jones was 6, his mother took him to her parents' farm near Manistee, Michigan. His grandparents adopted the boy and raised him.

“A world ended for me, the safe world of childhood,” Jones wrote in his autobiography, “Voices and Silences.” “The move from Mississippi to Michigan was supposed to be a glorious event. For me it was a heartbreak, and not long after, I began to stutter.”

Too embarrassed to speak, he remained virtually mute for years, communicating with teachers and fellow students with handwritten notes. A sympathetic high school teacher, Donald Crouch, learned that the boy wrote poetry, and demanded that Jones read one of his poems aloud in class. He did so faultlessly.

Teacher and student worked together to restore the boy’s normal speech. “I could not get enough of speaking, debating, orating — acting,” he recalled in his book.

Jones began his career on stage appearing in a variety of Shakespeare productions, then landed roles on the soap operas "Guiding Light" and "As the World Turns." He broke onto the big screen playing the role of bombardier Lt. Lothar Zogg in director Stanley Kubrick's dark nuclear war comedy/drama "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb."

He appeared regularly on television and landed roles in films such as "End of the Road" and "The Great White Hope." He also appeared in the TV miniseries "Roots," portraying author Alex Haley.

True stardom came suddenly in 1970 with “The Great White Hope.” Howard Sackler’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play depicted the struggles of Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight boxing champion, amid the racism of early 20th-century America. In 1972, Jones repeated his role in the movie version and was nominated for an Academy Award as best actor.

His other film credits include "Coming to America," "The Hunt for Red October," "Sneakers" and "Clear and Present Danger."

The pioneering Jones, who was one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama and worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.

He played Othello, Hamlet and Lear on the stage, bringing his trademark gravitas to the roles.

He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of “The Gin Game” having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.

“The need to storytell has always been with us,” he told The Associated Press then. “I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn't get him."

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City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.