James Earl Jones Age, Parents, Family, Lifestyle Net Worth Biography

James Earl Jones was an American actor known for his film roles and for his work in theater he was one of the few performers to achieve the egot Jones has been described as one of America's most distinguished and versatile actors for his performances on stage and Screen born January 17th 1931 araba Mississippi United States died September 9th 2024 aged 93 years Duchess County New York United States children Flynn Earl Jones parents Robert Earl Jones Ruth Connelly Awards Academy honorary award Kennedy Center Honors more height 1.87 M James Earl Jones net worth $40 million early life and education James Earl Jones was born in Arab butla Mississippi on January 17th 1931 to Ruth n Connelly 1911 to 1986 a teacher and Maid and Robert Earl Jones 1910 to 2006 a boxer Butler and chauffeur his father left the family shortly after James Earl's birth and later became a stage and Screen Actor in New York and Hollywood Jones and his father did not get to know each other until the 1950s when they reconciled he said in interviews that his parents were both of mixed African-American Irish and Native American an ancestry from the age of five Jones was raised by his maternal grandparents John Henry and Maggie Connelly on their Farm in Dublin Michigan they had moved from Mississippi in The Great Migration Jones found the transition to living with his grandparents in Michigan traumatic and developed a stutter so severe that he refused to speak he said I was a stutterer I couldn't talk so my first year of school was my first mutee and then those mute years continued until I got to high school he credited his English teacher Donald Crouch who discovered he had a gift for writing poetry with helping him and his silence Crouch urged him to challenge his reluctance to speak through reading poetry aloud to the class in 1949 Jones graduated from Dixon rural agricultural school now Brethren High School in Brethren Michigan where he served as vice president of his class he attended the University of Michigan where he was initially a Premed major he joined the Reserve officer training Corps and excelled he felt comfortable within the structure of the military environment and enjoyed the camaraderie of his fellow Cadets in the persing rifles drill team and Scabbard and blade Honor Society after his junior year he focused on drama with the thought of doing something he enjoyed before he assumed he would have to go off to fight in the Korean War Jones graduated from the University in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in drama career 1953 to 1972 early roles and acclaim Jones began his acting career at the ramsdale theater in Manesty Michigan in 1953 he was a stage Carpenter and between 1955 in 1957 he acted and was a stage manager in his first acting season at the ramsdale he portrayed a fellow his early career also included an appearance in the ABC radio Anthology series The the 5 in 1957 he made his Broadway debut as understudy to Lloyd Richards in a short-lived play the Egghead by Molly Kazan the play ran only 21 performances but 3 months later in January 1958 Jones created the featured role of Edward the butler in dor shar's sunrise at Campa belloo at the court theater during the early to mid 1960s Jones acted in various works of William Shakespeare becoming one of the best known Shakespearean actors of the time he tackled roles such as aell and King leer Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream aboron in measure for measure and Claudius in Hamlet also during this period Jones made his film debut in Stanley Kubrick's dror strange lavor how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb 1964 as the young Lieutenant loar zag the B-52 Bombadier Jones would later play a surgeon and Haitian Rebel leader in the comedians alongside Richard Burton Elizabeth Taylor and Alec Guinness in December 1967 Jones start alongside Jane Alexander and Howard sackler's play The Great White Hope at The Arena Stage in Washington DC Jones took the role of The Talented but troubled boxer Jack Jefferson who is based on the real champion Jack Johnson the play was a huge success when it moved to Broadway on October 3rd 1968 the play was well received winning the Pulitzer Prize for drama Jones himself won the 1969 Tony Award for best actor in a play and the Drama Desk award for his performance in 1969 Jones participated in making test films for the children's education series Sesame Street these shorts combined with animated segments were shown to groups of children to gauge the effectiveness of the then groundbreaking Sesame Street format as cited by production notes included in the DVD release Sesame Street Old School 1969 to 1974 the short that had the greatest impact with test audiences was one showing baldheaded Jones counting slowly to 10 this and other segments featuring Jones were eventually aired as part of the Sesame Street series itself when it debuted later in 1969 and Jones is often cited as the first celebrity guest on that series although a segment with Carol Bernett was the first to actually be broadcast he also appeared on the soap opera Guiding Light personal life marriages and illness in 1968 Jones married actress and singer Julianne Marie whom he met while performing as a fellow in 19 1964 they had no children and divorced in 1972 in 1982 he married actress Cecilia Hart with whom he had a son Flynn Hart died from ovarian cancer on October 16th 2016 in April 2016 Joan spoke publicly for the first time in nearly 20 years about his long-term Health Challenge with type 2 diabetes he was diagnosed in the mid 1990s after his doctor noticed he had fallen asleep while exercising at a gym Jones was Roman Catholic having converted during his time in the military death and Legacy Jones died at his home in Pauling New York on September 9th 2024 at the age of 93 in a statement CNN said that 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 Jones alma mater the University of Michigan paid tribute to him by posting a we are Michigan video narrated by Jones on X the NAACP sag ft and MLB also paid tribute to the actor numerous members of the entertainment industry paid tribute to the actor including Mark Hamill Danny DeVito William Shatner Barry Jenkins Ava deer Coleman Domingo octavus Spencer Jeffrey Wright Carri Washington Lavar Burton Disney C o Bob Iger lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and lucasfilm founder George Lucas