one acting Legend gives a touching tribute to another as Denzel Washington Pays His respects to the late acting Legend James Earl Jones Washington hails his Hollywood hero as he remembers Jones following his death speaking with variety Washington credited Jones for helping him launch his theater career and further his hwood Ambitions Jones portrayed the aonomus character in 1964 aell on Broadway and starred in the stage adaptation of the Eugene O'Neil play the emperor Jones in 1971 Washington's foray into theater started thanks to those two performances he's my hero Washington said my College theater career started because of the emperor Jones and a fellow with James Earl Jones though Washington and Jones never worked together in any capacity Washington modeled his career after Jones insisting he wanted to be like him in various facets I wasn't going to be as big as him I wanted to sound like him he was everything to me as a budding actor he was who I wanted to be he said despite never collaborating with Jones Washington has a connection through August Wilson's fences whose Broadway adaptation starred Jones in the lead role Jones earned a Tony Award for his performance as Troy Maxon in the aonomus 1987 Broadway version Washington directed produced and starred in the big screen adaptation of fences in 2016 with with the Gladiator two star becoming the first black person to earn best picture and best actor Academy Award nominations in the same year the film also won co-star Viola Davis the best supporting actor Oscar Jones passed away on September 9th aged 93 at his home in New York he was the son of a fellow actor and one of the first black Hollywood stars Robert Earl Jones he began acting in 1953 and became one of the most recognizable names and voices in Show Business until his final project in 2021 Jones is among the few actors to earn the egot title winning two Emmys two Tony Awards a Grammy and an honorary Academy Award throughout his distinguished career Jones is synonymous with several roles including Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise maasa in The Lion King Malcolm X in the greatest and Alex Haley in The Roots TV franchise Mark Hamill who starred alongside Jones in several Star Wars installments had a simple yet moving tribute to him on social media with the Luke Skywalker actor calling Jones his dad while remembering him James Earl Jones will forever be a Hollywood Legend some of Jones other notable films include Conan the Barbarian Coming to America Field of Dreams The Hunt for Red October and the TV movie Heatwave the Mississippi native who credits acting with helping him overcome his speech disability served in the United States Army during the Korean War before pursuing his Hollywood interests he was also the voice of CNN for 34 years Jones was survived by his only child Flynn Earl Jones whom he shared with his late wife and fellow actor Cecilia Hart who died in 2016