(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Lucasfilm/Instagram)
IN MEMORIAM
...James Earl Jones....
(1931 - 2024)
(© Photo: Lucasfilm (via Instagram)) |
 Legendary actor James Earl Jones (Field of Dreams, Star Wars) passed away
Nederlands
 PAWLING, New York (USA) -
Legendary actor James Earl Jones, who was instantly recognizable because of his iconic and booming voice, passed away on Monday (September 9) at age 93.
In a career of more than 60 years, spanning eight decades, James Earl Jones played in more than 80 movies, more than 70 television-series and also appeared in many stage-productions.
In his long career, he played in five baseball-related movies, including Field of Dreams.
James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi.
Since his childhood, he had a stutter, but he overcame it by his acting.
He served in the US Army during the Korean War.
Even when you don't know the cast of a movie, James Earl Jones was easy recognizable because of his deep and distinguished voice.
Even when he was not visible himself, as he also was an accomplished voice-actor.
For many movie-fans, James Earl Jones of course was the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars-franchise and of Mufasa in the Disney animation-classic The Lion King (1994).
He reprised his role as Mufasa in the CGI remake of The Lion King in 2019.
Another famous role was that of King Jaffe Joffer in Coming to America (1988) and Coming 2 America in 2021, which was his final film role.
But the well-respected actor played much more.
In the Star Wars-series, the part of Darth Vader was played by three actors.
David Prowse played the visible part of Darth Vader (or Anakin Skywalker).
Prowse, who passed away in 2020, was a bodybuilder/weightlifter.
He helped to train Christipher Reeve for his lead role in Superman (1978).
Because of his impressive physique, Prowse was selected to play the part of Darth Vader.
James Earl Jones provided the character with its iconic voice.
When Darth Vader's face was revealed in the third movie (Return of the Jedi), the part was played by Sebastian Shaw.
One of Darth Vader's most famous lines in this movie (and in the entire series) was 'Luke, I am your father'.
Other leading actors in the first three Star Wars-movies were Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia Organa), Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), Frank Oz (Yoda), Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett), Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin) and Ian McDiarmid (The Emperor).
Star Wars-creator George Lucas was the director of the first movie A New Hope (1977).
Irving Kershner directed the second, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Richard Marquand the third Return of the Jedi (1983).
In 2022, James Earl Jones signed a deal with Lucasfilm which authorizes archival recordings of his voice to be used in upcoming movies in the future to artificially generate the voice of Darth Vader.
|
...James Earl Jones as Terence Mann in Field of Dreams... |
Although his voice-role of Darth Vader forever will remain epic, for fans of baseball-movies, James Earl Jones also will be known for his important role in Field of Dreams (1989), directed by Phil Alden Robinson and based on the book with the same title, written by W.P. Kinsella.
In this movie, Iowa-farmer Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) is inspired by a voice he can't ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe.
,,If you build it, he will come'', the voice tells Kinsella.
James Earl Jones plays the part of Terence Mann, a controversial author
Mann agrees with Kinsella to build a baseball-field, saying ''Ray, people will come, Ray''.
This is the beginning of an iconic monologue, as Mann continues:
,,The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball.
America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers.
It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again.
But baseball has marked the time.
This field, this game - it's part of our past, Ray.
It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again''.
The script for this part of the movie is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Supported by his wife Annie (played by Amy Madigan), Ray begins the quest by turning his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true, a baseball-field where legendary players come into action, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, played by Ray Liotta, who passed away in 2022.
Another legendary actor also played in Field of Dreams, being Burt Lancaster, who was Dr. Archie 'Moonlight' Graham.
For Lancaster, who passed away in 1994, this was his final movie-role.
Field of Dreams got three Oscar-nominations: Best Picture, Best Original Score and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The set of the baseball-field was created in a farmfield in Dyersville, Iowa.
After shooting of the movie was completed, the field was left intact and became a tourist-attraction.
In 2021 and 2022, Major League Baseball organized regular season-games in a specially build ballpark near the site for MLB at Field of Dreams.
At the moment, a youth baseball and softball complex is under construction near the site.
...James Earl Jones (center) with Billy Dee Williams (left)...
...and Richard Pryor in the 1976 movie 'The Bingo Long...
...Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings'...
(© Publicity Photo) |
For James Earl Jones, this was his second baseball-related movie.
In 1976, he played in The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, directed by John Badham.
The comedy film is about a team of enterprising ex-Negro League players in the era of racial segregation.
James Earl Jones plays the part of Leon Carter.
Also appearing in this movie were Richard Pryor as Charlie Snow and Billy Dee Williams as Bingo Long.
In 1980 and 1983, Williams played the role of Lando Calrissian in the second and third Star Wars-movies.
In 1993, James Earl Jones played the part of Mr. Morris Mertle in The Sandlot, which tells the story of a group of young baseball players, directed by David Mickey Evans.
It also stars Denis Leary, Karen Allen, Tony Guiry and Mike Vitar.
In 2005, James Earl Jones reprised his role as Mr. Mertle in The Sandlot 2, directed again by David Mickey Evans.
Former Major League-player Steve Garvey plays the role of Little League Coach.
In 2006, James Earl Jones made a cameo-appearance as a Darth Vader-like Gatekeeper System in The Benchwarmers, which was directed by Dennis Dugan.
It tells the story of three nerds and a billionaire forming a baseball team to take on Little League-teams.
The lead roles are played by Rob Schneider, David Spade, Jon Heder (as the nerds) and Jon Lovitz (as the billionaire).
Former Major Leaguer Reggie Jackson appears as himself.
On July 13, 1993, James Earl Jones recited the American National Anthem, accompanied by the Morgan State University Choir, before the Major League All-Star Game in Baltimore.
In 1996, in Cincinnati, and in 2007, in Philadelphia, he recited the famous baseball-poem Casey at the Bat before a home-game of Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies.
James Earl Jones made his movie debut in 1964, playing Lt. Lothar Zogg in Dr. Strangelove, which starred Peter Sellers and was directed by Stanley Kubrick.
...James Earl Jones reciting the National Anthem...
...before the 1993 All-Star Game (MLB)... |
Other wellknown movies in which Jones appeared were The Great White Hope (1970), The Man (1972), Swashbuckler (1976), Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977), Conan the Barbarian (1982), Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Scorchers (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Sommersby (1993), Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994), Clear and Present Danger (1994), Judge Dredd (1995), Casper: A Spirited Beginning (1997), Fantasia 2000 (1999), Robots (2000), Scary Movie 4 (2006) and Jack and the Beanstalk (2009).
James Earl Jones also appeared in many TV-series, debuting in soap series The Guiding Light in 1966.
Also in 1966, Jones became the first black actor with a recurring role in a soap series, playing Dr. Jerry Turner in As the World Turns.
Other TV-series include Dr. Kildare (1966, four episodes), Roots (1977), Roots: The Next Generation (1979), Highway to Heaven (1987, one episode), L.A. Law (1988, 1989, two episodes), The Simpsons (1990, 1994, 1998, voice, three episodes), Gabriel's Fire (1990-1991, 22 episodes), Law & Order (1993, one episode), Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1994, one episode), 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996, narrator, 19 episodes), Mad About You (1997, one episode), Frasier (1997, one episode), Will & GraceTwo and a Half Men (2008, one episode), House, M.D. (2009, one episode) and The Big Bang Theory (2014, one episode).
In 1989-1992, Jones was the host of children TV-series Long Ago and Far Away, which presented stories based on traditional folk and fairy tales.
Through the years, James Earl Jones also made several guest-appearances on Late Night / Late Show with David Letterman.
James Earl Jones made his acting debut on stage in 1958 when he played Edward in Sunrise at Campobello in Cort Theatre, which is a Broadway theater located at 138 West 48th Street.
In March 2022, the theater was named after James Earl Jones.
In his stage-career, Jones alo played in several Shakespeare-plays like The Merchant of Venice (1962), Othello (1964-1965), Coriolanus (1965), Troilus and Cressida (1965), Hamlet (1972) and King Lear (1973).
With that, he became a wellknown Shakespearean actor.
|
...James Earl Jones-tribute by Good Morning America (ABC News)... |
In 2005, James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams were the lead actors in the Broadway-play On Golden Pond and in 2008, he starred on Broadway in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Jones returned to the stage in 2010, playing in Driving Miss Daisy, alongside Vanessa Redgrave.
He also played in this play in London.
In 2012, Jones played in the Broadway-play The Best Man with Angela Lansbury, John Larroquette and Candice Bergen.
For his role of President Art Hockstader in this play, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor.
For many years, the voice of James Earl Jones also could be heard at CNN, as it was his voice that spoke the tagline This is CNN.
He also narrated all 27 books of the New Testament in the audio-book James Earl Jones Reads the Bible.
In his career, James Earl Jones won many awards.
In 1985, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
In 1992, James Earl Jones was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President George H.W. Bush.
In 2002, he received a Kennedy Center Honor.
In 2009, Jones received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award for his work in film and television.
In 2014, Jones won the first-ever Voice Arts Icon Award, presented by the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS).
In 2019, he was named a Disney Legend.
In his long and impressive career, James Earl Jones became a member of the elite EGOT, which is the designation given to people who have won all four of the major American performing art awards: Emmy Award, Grammy Award, Oscar (Academy Award) and Tony Award.
These Awards honor outstanding achievements in television, audio recording, film and Broadway theatre.
Twenty-one people have achieved competitive EGOT status and six others have done so with honorary or special awards.
James Earl Jones won a Grammy Award in 1977 for Best Spoken Word Recording for Great American Documents.
|
...James Earl Jones receives the Honorary Academy Award in 2011... |
In 1969, he won his first of three Tony Awards, being the Best Leading Actor in a Play for The Great White Hope.
He won his next Tony in 1987 in the same category for Fences, in which he played a former Negro League baseball-star.
In 2017, he won a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.
In 1991, Jones won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Gabriel's Fire) and also for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special (Heat Wave).
In 2000, James Earl Jones won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Chidren's Special (Summer's End).
In 2011, James Earl Jones received the Academy Honorary Award, which made him a member of the EGOT-winners.
He was presented the Oscar-Award by Sir Ben Kingsley after a performance of Driving Miss Daisy in Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End.
Other EGOT-winners include Harry Belafonte, Mel Brooks, Viola Davis, John Gielgud, Whoopi Goldberg, Marvin Hamlish, Helen Hayes, Audrey Hepburn, Jennifer Hudson, Elton John, Quincy Jones, John Legend, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Frank Marshall, Alan Menken, Liza Minnelli, Rita Moreno, Tim Rice and Barbra Streisand.
In a statement, CNN said that James Earl Jones ''was the voice of CNN and our brand for many decades, uniquely conveying through speech instant authority, grace, and decorum.
That remarkable voice is just one of many things the world will miss about James.''
Mark Hamill, who played Darth Vader's son Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, posted ,,RIP dad'' on X.
On Instagram Hamill posted: ,,One of the world’s finest actors whose contributions to Star Wars were immeasurable.
He’ll be greatly missed''.
|
...CNN remembers James Earl Jones... |
In a statement, published in USA TODAY, Star Wars-creator George Lucas said:
,,An incredible actor, a most unique voice both in art and spirit.
For nearly half a century he was Darth Vader, but the secret to it all is he was a beautiful human being.
He gave depth, sincerity and meaning to all his roles, amongst the most important being devoted husband to the late Ceci and dad to Flynn.
James will be missed by so many of us...friends and fans alike''.
Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, said:
,,From the gentle wisdom of Mufasa to the menacing threat of Darth Vader, James Earl Jones gave voice to some of the greatest characters in cinema history.
A celebrated stage actor with nearly 200 film and television credits to his name, the stories he brought to life with a uniquely commanding presence and a true richness of spirit have left an indelible mark on generations of audiences.
On behalf of all of us at Disney, we extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones''.
Kevin Costner, co-star in Field of Dreams, wrote on Instagram:
,,Just hearing the news of James Earl Jones's passing.
That booming voice.
That quiet strength.
The kindness that he radiated.
So much can be said about his legacy, so I’ll just say how thankful I am that part of it includes Field of Dreams.
If you've seen it, you know that this movie wouldn't be the same with anyone else in his role.
Only he could bring that kind of magic to a movie about baseball and a corn field in Iowa.
I'm grateful to have been a witness to him making that magic happen.
Rest in peace, friend.''
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News offers his condolences to the family of James Earl Jones and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.
(September 10)
|
