If it seemed at times that James Earl Jones was everywhere, it was perhaps because he really was. Over a 50-year career, Jones — who died on Monday at the age of 93 — acted prolifically on television, in movies and under the spotlight of Broadway stages, one of which is now named after him.
An imposing man who stood taller than six feet, Jones was hard to miss. But it was his voice — deep, authoritative, powerful and sometimes menacing — that some fans may most remember. His voice work as Darth Vader in the original “Star Wars” trilogy and as Mufasa in “The Lion King” conveyed his presence to millions without audiences ever seeing him.
Here are some snapshots from his life and career.
Jones with Jane Alexander in the movie version of “The Great White Hope” (1970).Credit…American Movie Classics
Cassius Clay, right, allows himself to be tagged with a left thrown by actor James Earl Jones, star of the Broadway hit, “The Great White Hope,” in Hollywood Nov. 10, 1969.Credit…Associated Press
Jones with Lauren Bacall in 1969 after he won a Tony for lead actor in a play for his performance in “The Great White Hope” on Broadway.Credit…Bettmann Archive, via Getty Images
Jones playing the bugle in 1968.Credit…Bettman/Getty Images
Jones making an appearance on “Sesame Street” in 1970.Credit…Afro American Newspapers/Gado, via Getty Images
Jones in a scene from “The Man,” a 1972 film directed by Joseph Sargent.Credit…Everett Collection
Jones with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson at a Broadway opening in 1978.Credit…Sonia Moskowitz/Getty Images
James Earl Jones in 1977.Credit…Lisa Leonelli/Shutterstock
In 1981, Jones; Jean Stapleton, center; and other performing artists waited to testify before a House subcommittee to protest President Ronald Reagan’s planned cuts to arts and humanities programs.Credit…Associated Press
Jones and Christopher Plummer in a production of “Othello” in 1981 at the American Shakespeare Theater in Stratford, Conn.Credit…Martha Swope/New York Public Library
Jones in a Hollywood recording studio in 1991.Credit…Edmund Eckstein/Getty Images
Darth Vader, voiced by Jones, in a scene from the 1980 film “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.”Credit…Twentieth Century Fox
Jones in a scene from “Coming to America” (1988).Credit…Alamy
Jones with Kevin Costner in “Field of Dreams” (1989).Credit…Alamy
Mike Vitar, Tom Guiry and Jones in a scene from “The Sandlot” (1993).Credit…Alamy
Jones with his son, Flynn, and his father, Robert, in 1987.Credit…Michael Tighe/Donaldson Collection, via Getty Images
Jones as Norman Thayer in the play “On Golden Pond” at the Cort Theater on Broadway in 2005.Credit…Sara Krulwich
Terrence Howard as Brick and Jones as Big Daddy in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at the Broadhurst Theater on Broadway in 2008.Credit…Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
Angela Lansbury and Jones in the play “Driving Miss Daisy” in 2013.Credit…Jeff Busby
Jones and Cicely Tyson in the play “The Gin Game” at the Golden Theater on Broadway in 2015.Credit…Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
A Broadway theater was named after Jones in 2022.Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York Times
