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you can't think of James Earl Jones without hearing his voice that booming basso profundo conveying instant dignity or Menace was Joan's signature instrument it brought power to all his stage and movie roles most indelibly as Darth Vader in Star Wars Mufasa in The Lion King and as the voice of CNN that remarkable voice is just one of many things the world will miss about the Beloved actor who died Monday according to his agent he was 93 Jones was surrounded by his family when he died his representative said no cause of death was shared 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 said Bob Iger Chief Executive Officer of the Walt Disney Company in a statement 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 Jones had a distinguished career that spanned some 60 years and took him from a Small Town Theater in northern Michigan to the highest reaches of Hollywood voicing Darth Vader in the mid 1970s Star Wars Creator George Lucas cast towering British actor David prow as the guy inside Darth Vader's black suit but decided he wanted someone else to voice the character George thought he wanted a pardon the expression darker voice Jones once told the American Film Institute I lucked out back then nobody imagined Star Wars would become a blockbuster let alone an enduring franchise and cultural phenomenon Jones recorded all his lines in a few hours and was not listed in the film's credits he said he was paid just $7,000 for the movie and I thought that was good money the actor and Lucas had disagreements about how he should voice the villainous Vader I wanted to make Darth Vader more interesting more subtle more psychologically oriented Jones said he Lucas said no no no you've got to keep his voice on a very narrow band of inflection cuz he ain't human Darth Vader's climactic duel with Luke Skywalker played by Mark Hamill in 1980s The Empire Strikes Back became a dramatic High Point in the Star Wars series punctuated by Joan's delivery of one of the most famous lines in movie history no I am your father quote Hamill issued a statement on Monday writing on Instagram one of the world's finest actors whose contributions to Star Wars were a measurable he'll be greatly missed # rip dad Jones said that almost two decades later when he was voicing the dignified Mufasa for Disney's animated The Lion King it took him a while to strike the right tone my first mistake was to try and make him Regal Jones said of the 19 1994 film and what they really needed was something more like me they said what are you like as a father and I said well I'm really a Dopey dad he continued and so they began to impose my facial expressions onto Mufasa and a different tone of voice yeah he was authoritative but he was just a gentle dad a prolific career Jones was born in 1931 in Mississippi his father Robert Earl Jones left the family before James was born to become an actor in New York and Hollywood working with playwright Langston Hughes and eventually earning supporting roles in hit movies including the sting Jan's family moved from Mississippi to Michigan when he was five a traumatic upheaval that caused him to develop a stutter his fear of speaking rendered him almost mute until he got to high school where a poetry teacher helped him overcome his disability by encouraging him to read his poems alowed he began to challenge me to nudge me toward speaking again toward acknowledging and appreciating the beauty of words Jones said Jones studied drama at the University of Michigan served as an Army Ranger and then moved to New York where he soon landed lead roles in Shakespearean stage Productions he made his film debut in 1964 as a Bombadier in Stanley Kubrick's dror Strange Love in 1967 Jones was cast as troubled boxer Jack Johnson in a theatrical production of the Great White Hope a career changing role that won him a Tony he reprised the role three years later in the film adaptation becoming only the second africanamerican man after Sydney padier to be nominated for an Academy award by the mid 1970s Jones was working steadily in movies and TV a prolific run that never slowed over the next five decades he appeared in many memorable roles as Alex Haley in TV's Roots the next Generations warlord thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian an African king in Coming to America Kevin Cosner's reluctant recruit in Field of Dreams Admiral Greer in the hunt for for Red October and Patriot Games and a South African preacher in Cry The Beloved Country on Monday Cosner recalled Jan's booming voice quiet strength and the kindness that he radiated in a statement on Instagram 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 he wrote only he could bring that kind of magic to a movie about baseball and a cornfield in Iowa I'm grateful to have been a witness to him making that magic happen Jones continued to work into his later years in 2021 Jones reprised his role as King jaffy joffer in Coming to America the long awaited sequel to The 1988 classic his final credit according to IMDb was voicing Darth Vader in the 2022 Disney plus miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi the power of speech in 2019 he again voiced Mufasa in Disney's remake of The Lion King becoming the only cast member to repre his role from the first film over the years he also guest starred in dozens of TV series from La law to Sesame Street Street appeared regularly on the stage and lent his deep rumbling voice to everything from The Simpsons to a popular audio recording of the King James version of the Bible Jones said people in public sometimes didn't recognize him until they heard his voice when you don't talk it's like going ninja he told Rachel Ray in 2016 you get in the taxi and say where you're going and the guy turns around and says hey aren't you that Darth Vader guy he also lent his voice to CNN's tagline this is CNN complete with a dramatic pause after this quote a CNN spokesperson said in a statement on Monday 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 the statement added over his long and prolific career Jones won three Tony two emys a Grammy a Golden Globe and numerous other Awards it wasn't acting it was language it was speech he said when asked what aroused his passion for acting it was the thing that I denied myself all those years as a boy I now had a great an abnormal appre appreciation for it and it was the idea that you can do a play like a Shakespeare play or any well-written play Arthur Miller whatever and say things you could never imagine saying never imagine thinking in your own life he told the Academy of achievement in 1996 you could say these things that's what it's still about whether it's the movies or TV or what that what it's still about