James Earl Jones

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

 

Farewell to a legend. A voice that shook the galaxy.

 

And, incidentally, one of the finest actors of his or any other generation. He took up acting after finding that reciting poetry helped him beat a crippling stammer - again, showing the value of smart and sympathetic teachers.

 

After military service, headed for NYC, Jim hooked up with a crowd of young actors, and started making a name for himself. He took hefty Shakespearean roles alongside the likes of Christopher Plummer - not just Othello, but Lear, Claudius, Oberon, all the big shots. Moviewise he got lucky early on as well - that's a young trim James as Slim Pickens' bombardier in Dr. Strangelove, following it up with an Oscar nom for Great White Hope. He was also one of the first guest actors on Sesame Street, doing some of their test films while they were developing the series. 

 

And once you hit Star Wars... well, things just took off from there. Although I didn't know until today he was uncredited for the first two flicks on their original release, as he thought he was "just another special effect." 

 

As I've mentioned on another thread, there never needs to be another Darth Vader: he licensed his voice to Respeecher. 

But to be honest, I'm not sure there ever could. 

 

So. To a great actor, a king amongst men (and lions), and the guy who scared the living [redacted] out of me at age three...

...rest well in the light of the Force.

Edited September 10 by ThaOGDreamWeaver

[Triumphant]

Lived to the ripe old age of 93.  Now he is one with The Force.  RIP.  🙏

[PeregrineFalcon]

Farewell Mr. Jones. May the Force be with you, always.

 

 

[Glacier Peak]

What a storied life! The only other voice actor who had the same impact on my childhood was Kevin Conroy.

Edited September 10 by Glacier Peak

[Techwright]

This was a gut punch, the second this year. Bob Newhart was the first.  I hope Dick Van Dyke will not make a third.

 

While Darth Vader will always be his signature role, and Mufasa probably his second one, I'm much more fond of his appearances in two baseball films, Field of Dreams and The Sandlot, as well as his Admiral Greer character in the Tom Clancy movies.   In fact, I just re-watched The Hunt For Red October a few days back. 

 

Looking over his achievements, it seems he narrated a documentary about Lincoln back in 1992.  I shall have to find this.

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

There's a lot of retrospective stuff going on at the moment, so I just wanted to share this if you've not run across it.

 

This is from the Broadway production of Fences, with a young Courtney B. Vance (Law & Order: Criminal Intent).

Here's young Cory trying passive-aggressive on exactly the wrong person.

 

 

[Ghost]

Loved him in Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars

 

Of course, I can’t think of one roll he wasn’t great in.

[AboveTheChemist]

Major Kong riding the bomb down in Dr. Strangelove is one of my all-time favorite movie scenes, and I always think of James Earl Jones when I think of that scene because of his "Hey, what about Major Kong?" line that immediately precedes it. He was also a fantastic villain as Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian.

[Techwright]

1 hour ago, AboveTheChemist said:

He was also a fantastic villain as Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian.

 

Peter's Evil Overlord List #34:  I will not turn into a snake. It never helps.

 

 

Edited September 10 by Techwright
added link

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Yeah, but he gave great Overlord/BBEG, and man, could he ever monologue.

Then again, he could make anything sound menacing. Well, more or less.

(And was one hell of a comedy player.)

 

 

Edited September 10 by ThaOGDreamWeaver