James Earl Jones Bio (Wiki)

Who is James Earl Jones?

James Earl Jones is an American actor. Likely, James Earl Jones is a veteran entertainer who has enjoyed a long and productive career spanning over five decades.

He is also a voice actor who voiced the character, Darth Vader, in the Star Wars film franchise.

James Earl Jones: Age, Parents, Siblings, Nationality, Ethnicity

James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, the United States on January 17, 1931, and he is currently 92 years old.

His father’s name is Robert Earl Jones and his mother’s name is Ruth Williams Jones.

He had a difficult childhood at his maternal grandparents’ farm and developed a severe stutter.

His paternal grandfather was not on good terms with his father, hence they abandoned his father when James was young.

Because of this he became withdrawn and refused to speak to anyone. After he started going to school, he gradually started gaining confidence.

He has a sibling namely, Matthew Earl Jones. James holds American citizenship and mixed (African-American) ethnicity. His birth sign is Capricorn.

Education, School/ College University

Talking about James’s education history, he attended the Browning School for boys and then graduated from the Brethren High School.

He went to the University of Michigan to study medicine but soon realized that he was not meant to be a doctor and dropped out.

James Earl Jones: Professional Life, Career

He began his acting career as a stage artist. He started working part-time at the Ramsdell Theatre prior to his military stint.

James was a stage carpenter in 1953 and began working as an actor in 1955 when he performed in Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’.

Over the next few years, he acted in many of Shakespeare’s plays like ‘King Lear’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Measure for Measure’ and ‘Hamlet’.

He landed his first film role in 1964 when he was cast as Lieutenant Lothar Zogg in Stanley Kubrick’s black comedy ‘Dr. Strangelove’.

He played the lead role in the 1967 play ‘The Great White Hope’ in which he portrayed the boxing champion, Jack Jefferson. The play was highly successful and ran for 546 performances.

He enjoyed great success all through the 1970s and 1980s by performing a variety of roles in different genres of cinema.

The best-known of his works for the period were ‘Claudine’ (1974), ‘The Greatest (1977), ‘Conan the Barbarian’ (1982), ‘Guardians of Stone (1987), and ‘Best of the Best (1989).

Blessed with a deep and distinctive voice, he voiced the character, Darth Vader, in the Star War trilogy: Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983).

However, he had personally requested to be uncredited for this until 1997.

In the year 1995, he appeared in the television drama series ‘Under One Roof’ which revolved around the lives of three generations of an African-American family that shared a house.

He portrayed Rev Stephen Kumalo in the 1995 film ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’ directed by Darrell Roodt. The movie was based on the novel of the same name by Alan Paton.

Awards, Nomination

In the year 1971, he won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year-Actor for the film ‘The Great White Hope’.

He won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Drama Series for the television series ‘Gabriel’s Fire’ in 1991.

He was presented with the Academy Honorary Award in 2011.

These special awards are given to individuals for motion picture achievements not covered by existing Academy Awards.

James Earl Jones: Net Worth, Salary

This actor has an estimated net worth of around $40 million (as per 2023 data) and he has earned that sum of money from his professional career.

James Earl Jones: Rumors, Controversy

There was a rumor about Jones’s death which was later proved untrue.

He is successful in maintaining his life free from rumors and controversies.

Body Measurements: Height, Weight

James Earl Jones has a height of 6 feet 2 inches but his weight is unknown. His hair color is light and his eye color is brown.

Social Media

James is active on Twitter. He has around 44.2K followers in it. But he doesn’t have an official page on Facebook and Instagram.

Also, read Chris Santos, Tim Reid, and Gary Sandy.