He may have been the man behind one of the most prominent villains in all of fiction, but James Earl Jones — who sadly passed away yesterday at the age of 93 — was one of the world’s finest artistic luminaries.
His journey began long before he led the Sith into battle, but there’s no denying the actor’s inseparability from George Lucas‘ beloved mythos. As such, the mastermind himself has since paid tribute to the late legend, honoring not just Jones’ talent, but also the actor’s secret to manifesting said talent.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Lucas honored Jones as “a most unique voice in both art and spirit,” naming the actor’s real-life humanity as the fuel that drove his artistry, having brought “depth, sincerity, and meaning to all of his roles, amongst the most important being devoted husband to the late Ceci and dad to Flynn.”
Among other figures in the entertainment industry to pay tribute to Jones were his fellow Star Wars icons Mark Hamill and Rosario Dawson, along with Kevin Costner, Danny DeVito, Barry Jenkins, Ava DuVernay, Viola Davis, Colman Domingo, Octavia Spencer, Jeffrey Wright, Jamie Foxx, Danielle Brooks, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Kerry Washington, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Uzo Aduba, LeVar Burton, and William Shatner.
An EGOT winner, Jones began that particular journey in 1968 — nearly a decade before the world came to know him as Darth Vader — when he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his portrayal of boxer Jack Jefferson in The Great White Hope. He would reprise the role in the 1970 film adaptation and receive an Academy Award nomination for it, although his Oscar wouldn’t come until 2011, when he was bestowed with an Academy Honorary Award.
Jones won three Emmys in his lifetime, two of which were Primetime Emmy Awards awarded to him in 1991: an Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries win for his role of Junius Johnson in Heat Wave, and an Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series win for portraying Gabriel Bird in Gabriel’s Fire. His third win was a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children’s special, an honor he received in 2000 for his leading role of Dr. William “Bill” Blakely in Summer’s End. His Grammy, meanwhile, came in the form of a Best Spoken Word win for his work in Great American Documents, which he achieved in 1977 — the year he first brought Darth Vader to life in the original Star Wars film.
Jones’ final performance came in 2022, loaning his voice to the galaxy’s forever-big bad one last time in the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries, while his final acting role was that of King Jaffe Joffer in the 2021 film Coming 2 America.
It will be some time yet, however, before the final instance of Jones’ creative influence rears its head, such is a testament to not only his body of work, but the exceedingly admirable manner with which he approached it both on and off-set. Rest in peace, James Earl Jones.
Published: Sep 10, 2024 09:24 am