James Earl Jones, a stuttering farm child who became a voice of rolling thunder as one of America’s most versatile actors in a stage7xm, film and television career that plumbed race relations, Shakespeare’s rhapsodic tragedies and the faceless menace of Darth Vader, died on Monday at his home in Dutchess County, N.Y. He was 93.

The office of his agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed the death in a statement.

From destitute days working in a diner and living in a $19-a-month cold-water flat, Mr. Jones climbed to Broadway and Hollywood stardom with talent, drive and remarkable vocal cords. He was abandoned as a child by his parents, raised by a racist grandmother and mute for years in his stutterer’s shame, but he learned to speak again with a herculean will. All had much to do with his success.

So did plays by Howard Sackler and August Wilson that let a young actor explore racial hatred in the national experience; television soap operas that boldly cast a Black man as a doctor in the 1960s; and a decision by George Lucas, the creator of “Star Wars,” to put an anonymous, rumbling African American voice behind the grotesque mask of the galactic villain Vader.

ImageMr. Jones in 1979 as the author Alex Haley on “Roots: The Next Generation.”Credit...Warner Brothers Television, via Everett Collection

The rest was accomplished by Mr. Jones himself: a prodigious body of work that encompassed scores of plays, nearly 90 television network dramas and episodic series, and some 120 movies. They included his voice work, much of it uncredited, in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, in the credited voice-over of Mufasa in “The Lion King,” Disney’s 1994 animated musical film, and in his reprise of the role in Jon Favreau’s computer-animated remake in 2019.

Mr. Jones was no matinee idol, like Cary Grant or Denzel Washington. But his bulky Everyman suited many characters, and his range of forcefulness and subtlety was often compared to Morgan Freeman’s. Nor was he a singer; yet his voice, though not nearly as powerful, was sometimes likened to that of the great Paul Robeson. Mr. Jones collected Tonys, Golden Globes, Emmys, Kennedy Center honors and an honorary Academy Award.

From the conversationPlennie WingoSunny Florida

If God has a voice it would sound like him.

AAnd So It GoesTraveling Man

Such and incredible talent. For me, the Field of Dreams speech stands tallest in his forest of redwoods: "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 a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again."Godspeed, Mr. Jones. Thank you for all that you gave us.

Read full comment AnixtermoreNYC

James Earl Jones was born ahead of his time. Many may now take for granted seeing a Black actor in roles that could be played by anyone, regardless of race, but that was not always the case. Throughout his life, Jones faced racial discrimination, both personally and professionally. Despite this, he was a natural talent and took great pride in opening doors for countless actors of his race. Yet, he often lamented that during his prime, he was unable to secure more roles in the film industry. It was pioneers like him, who persevered in the face of racism, that helped shift Hollywood’s perception for future generations. It’s ironic that the voice of Darth Vader spent his whole life fighting back against the true evil empire : entrenched racism.

Read full comment WWhat Do I Know?Boston

If you build it, they will come. You built an amazing career with the voice of a lifetime and the people came. Thanks for all the entertainment Mr Jones. RIP.

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