James Earl Jones

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James Earl Jones (2010)
James Earl Jones (2001)

James Earl "Todd" Jones (born January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla , Tate County , Mississippi ) is an American actor . He is best known in the English-speaking world, especially for his powerful voice, with which he also synchronizes Darth Vader . In 2012 he received the honorary Oscar for his life's work.

Life

Robert Earl Jones' son grew up with his maternal grandparents in Dublin, Michigan (USA) after his parents separated . In response to the breakup, he started stuttering at the age of five and then barely spoke at all for about eight years, until he went to high school (see Mutism ). It wasn't until one of his high school teachers, Donald Crouch, that he started talking again. Crouch believed that speaking in public would restore confidence to Jones, so he had Jones recite a poem every day in class.

From 1949 to 1953, he completed a pre-medical degree at the University of Michigan . He also attended the University's Reserve Officer Training Corps to train as an officer. Realizing during his studies that medicine wasn't right for him, he switched to acting. The Korean War was at its height around 1950, so he expected to be drafted directly as an officer and sent to Korea upon graduation. In the fall of 1953 he received his officer's license ( English commission ) from the United States Army , was trained as an infantry officer at the infantry school in Fort Benning and then successfully attended the ranger school . He was supposed to be stationed at Fort Leonard Wood afterwards , but his association was moved to Camp Hale near Leadville , Colorado . His unit was used there as a training association for mountain warfare and winter combat. After three years of service he left the Army in the rank of First Lieutenant ( German  Oberleutnant ) to devote himself to acting.

Jones played his first film role in Stanley Kubrick's film Dr. Strange or: How I Learned to Love the Bomb in which he was featured as a B-52 bomber. In 1972 he played the US President in The Man . This was the first time an African-American had appeared in this capacity in a US feature film. In the course of his career, the actor gained a great reputation as a versatile stage, film and television actor and regularly played in successful Hollywood films such as Conan the Barbarian , The Prince of Zamunda and the Hunt for Red October . In the latter, he was seen in one of his more well-known roles as CIA Deputy Director Admiral James Greer , the boss and fatherly friend of the title character Jack Ryan . He also took on the part in the sequels The Hour of the Patriots and The Cartel (in which Greer died of cancer).

James Earl Jones' distinctive feature is his deep, distinctive voice, which made him particularly popular. In 1977 he spoke for the first time as the sinister Darth Vader in the space saga Star Wars (in which he did not appear as an actor) . In the English-speaking world, the character of the black-clad villain has since been inextricably linked to Jones' voice, and he has also voiced Vader in several sequel films. He lends the famous Sith Lord his voice in the animated series Star Wars Rebels .

In addition, Jones is still active as a stage actor. He made his Broadway debut in 1957. In the following years he played various roles at the New York Shakespeare Festival ; so did Shakespeare's Othello - a role he repeated on Broadway in 1981 with Christopher Plummer . His breakthrough as a stage and film actor in 1969 with the presentation of the boxer Jack Johnson in the Broadway hit The Great White Hope ( The Great White Hope ), which gives him a Tony Award , and in 1970 in the film adaptation of a Golden Globe Award as Best Young Actor and earned an Oscar nomination. In 1972 he was Shakespeare's King Lear . In 1987 he won his second Tony Award for his performance in the play Fences by August Wilson , in which he portrayed a former baseball player who will not be able to communicate with his son.

In 2006, Jones portrayed the first African American judge Thurgood Marshall at the US Supreme Court in the one-person play Thurgood . In February 2008, he played at the Broadhurst Theater in New York in an ensemble of exclusively African-American actors alongside Phylicia Rashad and Terrence Howard the role of Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams . In November 2009 he appeared again in this role at the Novello Theater in London. In October 2010 he starred alongside Vanessa Redgrave in the stage version of the hit film Miss Daisy and her chauffeur from Alfred Uhry on Broadway. He also performed this role later, in November 2011, in London's West End .

Jones is also active as a voice actor and spoke, among other things, the lion Mufasa in Disney's The Lion King . He regularly takes on dubbing guest roles in the television series The Simpsons . He also represented the General Solomon in the computer game Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun operation .

His autobiography, published in 2002, is entitled Voices and Silences . On January 25, 2009, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) gave Jones the Lifetime Achievement Award . On November 12, 2011 he received an honorary Oscar for his services to the film.

In episode 14 of the 7th season of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory (original title of the episode: The Convention Conundrum ) Jones had a guest appearance with the actress Carrie Fisher .

Jones' first wife was the actress and singer Julienne Marie (also known as Julienne Scanlon), whom he met during the production of Othello , in which she played Desdemona . The marriage with Julienne Marie lasted from 1968 to 1972. In 1982 he married Cecilia Hart, with whom he has one child. He was married to her until her death in October 2016.

Jones has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2009 .

Filmography (selection)

Fonts

literature

  • Judy L. Hasday, Sandra Stotksy, James Scott Brady: James Earl Jones: Actor (Overcoming Adversity). Chelsea House Publishers, 1999, ISBN 0-7910-4703-2 .

Web links

Commons : James Earl Jones  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ James Earl Jones / US Army. In: www.hiredguns.biz. Hired Guns Productions, 2004, archived from the original on December 27, 2008 ; accessed on June 29, 2020 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Jones, James Earl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jones, Todd
SHORT DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 17, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Arkabutla , Tate County , Mississippi , United States