By Seyi Babalola
Talented and award-winning American theatre and screen actor, James Earl Jones, who utilized his booming deep voice to bring the renowned ‘Star Wars’ villain Darth Vader to life, died on Monday, his reps announced.
He was 93 years old.
From the works of Shakespeare and August Wilson, to his memorable voiceovers in the blockbuster space saga and as Mufasa in the Disney classic ‘The Lion King’, Jones earned fans with his ability to play both the everyman and the otherworldly.
He got three Tony awards, including a lifetime award, two Emmys, a Grammy, and an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement.
In 1971, he became only the second Black man to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, following Sidney Poitier.
All of these accolades were hard-won, as Jones, who was born in segregated Mississippi on January 17, 1931, had to overcome a childhood stutter that often led him to barely speak at all.
