James Earl Jones, who died at the age of 93, will always be remembered for multiple roles — especially voicing the iconic Darth Vader from the Star Wars movies for almost 40 years. The late talented actor had signed off on using archived recordings of his young voice to recreate the character in future productions of Lucasfilm projects through artificial intelligence synthetic speech technology, according to Variety. “He had mentioned he was looking into winding down this particular character,” Matthew Wood, a Lucasfilm veteran, previously told the outlet. “So how do we move forward?”
As we look back on James’ profile career, find out more about him and his acting history below.
James spanned a career of multiple decades
In addition to voicing Darth Vader since 1977, he voiced many other impressive roles, including Mufasa in Disney’s The Lion King in 1994 and its sequel, The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride. James also worked as an actor in many films, television series, and theatre productions. Some of his notable include The Great White Hope, Malcolm X, The Greatest, Conan the Barbarian, Field of Dreams, Patriot Games, Long Ago and Far Away, Gabriel’s Fire, and Pros and Cons.
He had a stutter as a child
James previously said that poetry and acting helped him get over the stutter and go on to be one of the most legendary voice actors and actors in the industry. Before making it big as an actor, he was studying pre-med and served in the United States Army during the Korean War. His Broadway debut happened in 1957, when he performed in several Shakespeare plays.
James received most of the biggest awards in the entertainment industry
Throughout his successful career, he has won multiple Emmys and Tonys as well as a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and Grammy Award. He also received the Honorary Academy Award in 2011.
He was the first celebrity appearance on Sesame Street
The appearance took place in 1969 and it led the way for many other celebrities to appear on the popular kids’ television show. James gave a slow, solemn recitation of the alphabet on the show. He paused between each letter and gave kids time to learn before going onto the next letter.
James reportedly declined to be credited for the first two Star Wars films
Since he was only providing the voice for Darth Vader, James considered his role to be minor and part of special effects. Therefore, he declined to be credited, according to Force Material. He accepted credit by the third film, though, and many began to take note of his talent. Although a lot of Star Wars fans thought he was also in the Darth Vader suit during those first films, it was actually actor Dave Prowse.