James Earl Jones, the American actor who voiced iconic film characters such as Darth Vader in ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Mufasa’ in The Lion King, died on Monday at the age of 93 at his home in Dutchess County, New York.
Jones was one of the privileged few members of the EGOT club (that is, winner of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) and appeared in nearly 200 on-screen productions during his 60-year career.
The actor, born in 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi, was best known for voicing the character of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as in the most recent installments (Revenge of the Sith, Rogue One, The Rise of Skywalker) and in the television series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Star Wars Rebels.
Jones made his big screen debut in Stanley Kubrick’s feature film ‘Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb’, although he rose to fame in 1970 with his role in the film (The Great White Hope’, in which he played the first African-American US heavyweight champion.
His role in the latter led to him being nominated for an Oscar for Best Leading Actor in 1971, although he would not win a statuette until 2012, when he received an honorary Oscar.
In the cinema she also participated in other films such as ‘Claudine’, ‘Field of Dreams’ or ‘Our Gang’.
For his part, he made his Broadway debut in 1958 with ‘Sunrise at Campobello’, with which he won the Tony for best play, and throughout his career he won two of these awards, one for his role in the play ‘The Great White Hope’ (before it was adapted to the big screen) and another for ‘Fences’.
He was also nominated for an Emmy eight times, winning two in 1991: one for his role as the title character in the drama series Gabriel’s Fire and another in the category of supporting actor in a miniseries or special for Heat Wave.
Source: www.eldiario.es
