James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones born January 17 1931 is a multiawardwinning American actor of theater and film well known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance gravitas and leadership He is known for providing the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise and the tagline for CNN James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla Mississippi the son of Ruth née Connolly and Robert Earl Jones At the age of five he moved to Jackson Michigan to be raised by his maternal grandparents but the adoption was traumatic and he developed a stutter so severe he refused to speak aloud When he moved to Brethren Michigan in later years a teacher at the Brethren schools started to help him with his stutter He remained functionally mute for eight years until he reached high school He credits his high school teacher Donald Crouch who discovered he had a gift for writing poetry with helping him out of his silence Jones attended the University of Michigan where he was a premed major While there he joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps and excelled During the course of his studies Jones discovered he was not cut out to be a doctor Instead he focused himself on drama with the thought of doing something he enjoyed before he assumed he would have to go off to fight in the Korean War After four years of college Jones left without his degree In 1953 he found a parttime stage crew job at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee Michigan which marked the beginning of his acting career During the 19551957 seasons he was an actor and stage manager He performed his first portrayal of Shakespeares Othello in this theater in 1955 After his discharge from the Military Jones moved to New York where he attended the American Theatre Wing to further his training and worked as a janitor to earn a living His first film role was as a young and trim Lt Lothar Zogg the B52 bombardier in Dr Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb in 1964 His first big role came with his portrayal of boxer Jack Jefferson in the film version of the Broadway play The Great White Hope which was based on the life of boxer Jack Johnson For his role Jones was nominated Best Actor by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences making him the second AfricanAmerican male performer following Sidney Poitier to receive a nomination In 1969 Jones participated in making test films for a proposed childrens television series these shorts combined with animated segments were the beginnings of the Sesame Street format The next year in the early 1970s James appeared with Diahann Carroll in the film called Claudine While he has appeared in many roles he is well known as the voice of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy Darth Vader was portrayed in costume by David Prowse in the original trilogy with Jones dubbing Vaders dialogue in postproduction due to Prowses strong West Country accent being unsuitable for the role At his own request he was originally uncredited for the release of the first two films he would later be credited for the two in the 1997 rerelease  His other voice roles include Mufasa in the 1994 film Disney animated blockbuster The Lion King and its directtovideo sequel The Lion King II Simbas Pride He also has done the CNN tagline This is CNN as well as This is CNN International and the Bell Atlantic tagline Bell Atlantic The heart of communication When Bell Atlantic became Verizon Jones used the tagline greeting of Welcome to Verizon or Verizon 411 right before a phone call would go through The opening for NBCs coverage of the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics the Big PI in the Sky God in the computer game Under a Killing Moon a Claymation film about The Creation and several guest spots on The Simpsons In addition to his film and voice over work Jones is an accomplished stage actor as well he has won Tony awards in 1969 for The Great White Hope and in 1987 for Fences Othello King Lear Oberon in A Midsummer Nights Dream Abhorson in Measure for Measure and Claudius in Hamlet are Shakespearean roles he has played He received Kennedy Center Honors in 2002 Jones has been married to actress Cecilia Hart since 1982 They have one child Flynn Earl Jones He was previously married to American actresssinger Julienne Marie born March 21 1933 Toledo Ohio they had no children Jones is a registered Republican