Follow TV Tropes

Following

Creator / James Earl Jones

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/james_earl_jones.jpeg

"This is CNN."
James Earl Jones, CNN Station Identification

U.S. Army Ranger. Played blue-eyed Thulsa Doom. He is God, Darth Vader, Mufasa, Kibosh, Othello, General James Solomon, and (in a single "Treehouse of Horror" episode of The Simpsons) Maggie Simpson. Also did commercials for Verizon (and its predecessor Bell Atlantic) for a while.

A noted American actor of stage and screen who was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is famous for his sonorous bass voice that can either be sinister (e.g. Darth Vader and Kibosh) or paternal (Mufasa), but is regardless authoritative and commanding — even more so when you consider he had to overcome a severe stutter in his youth. His voice is also remarkable for being naturally of bass register, which is indeed very rare. He gets a fair amount more respect on the stage, where he played a number of Shakespearean roles (including being one of the first African American actors to play the lead in Othello) and was a fixture on the African-American art-theater circuit (he was the lead at the opening performance in several of August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle, most famously Fences.) His father was Robert Earl Jones, also a noted actor whose most recognized role was Luther in The Sting.

Here is a clear demonstration of just how perfect his voice is for the role (or rather, a demonstration of how lame things would have been without him): A pre-voiceover clip showing Darth Vader voiced by his on-screen character's actor, David Prowse, who had the right stature for the character. Jones himself was cast later, after George Lucas realized Prowse's own voice, uh, would not work. Jones would officially retire from voicing Vader in 2022, having given Lucasfilm permission to use the Respeecher A.I. voice synthesizer to recreate his voice for all future projects starting with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

He Also Did some funny Sprint commercials with Malcolm McDowell. Notable for making the first full-fledged celebrity cameo on Sesame Street, reciting the alphabet on the show's second episode in 1969.note 


Filmography on TV Tropes:


CNN. C...N...N...

Top