Legendary Actor and Dutchess County Resident James Earl Jones passed away today at his home at age 93.
Jones is an EGOT Winner (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar & Tony) and has nearly 200 screen credits, making him one of the best known people in the business. Over his career, he received three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award. While Jones has not won a competitive Oscar, he was presented with the Honorary Academy Award in 2011 by Sir Ben Kingsley.
During his brilliant 60-year career, he began in the early-’60s with TV guest roles and Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 classic Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). He best known for his voice role as Darth Vader in the Star Wars trilogy: Star Wars (1977) The Empire Strikes Back, 1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). He also reprised the villainous role in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019) and TV’s Obi-Wan Kenobi and Star Wars: Rebels.
Who doesn't know his immortal Vader quotes: “When I left you, I was but the learner — now I am the master,” “I find your lack of faith disturbing” and, of course, “No, I am your father.”
One of Jones’ best-loved roles is Terence Mann, the reclusive 1960s author who reluctantly teams with Kevin Costner’s Ray Kinsella to unlock the latter’s visions of baseball lore in Field of Dreams (1989). Based on the 1982 novel Shoeless Joe Jackson, the film from writer-director Phil Alden Robinson tugged — no, yanked — at heartstrings with its sweet nostalgia, high-concept plot, father-son dynamics and general excellence.
It earned three Oscar nominations including Best Picture; it lost to Driving Miss Daisy — a film whose Broadway adaptation starred Jones as Hoke Colburn, the character played by Morgan Freeman on the big screen.
Jones also voiced Mufasa in The Lion King in both the 1994 animated film and the 2019 hybrid remake and lent his voice to the famous “This is CNN” promo campaign for the cable news network.
Born on January 17, 1931, in Arkabutla, MS, Jones was a full-time resident in Pawling, NY (Dutchess County) and will be GREATLY missed!
