James Earl Jones, voice of Darth Vader and Mufasa, dies aged 93
The actor was best known as the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars, Mufasa in the Lion King and King Joffer in Coming to America
Actor James Earl Jones has died at the age of 93, his agent has said.
The Hollywood star is known best for his roles as Darth Vader in Star Wars and the voice of Mufasa in the Lion King.
Mr Jones' representative confirmed he died at his home in New York, with his family by his side.
He had a distinguished career that spanned some 60 years and took him from a small-town theatre in Michigan to the highest reaches of Hollywood, where he appeared in dozens of movies and TV series.
In the mid-1970s, Star Wars creator, George Lucas, cast British actor David Prowse as the man inside Darth Vader’s black suit, but decided he wanted someone else to voice the character.
“George thought he wanted a - pardon the expression - darker voice,” Jones once told the American Film Institute. “I lucked out.”
The US actor’s voice was also lent to the likes of Mufasa in Disney’s 1994 film The Lion King, various audiobooks and to CNN for its “This is CNN” tagline.
During his career he won a host of awards including Emmys, Tony Awards, a Grammy and he was given an honorary Oscar.
Tributes have begun for the pioneering actor, led by Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, posted “#RIP Dad” with a broken heart emoji as he shared a news report of Jones’ death.
Jones was already an award-winning star of stage and screen when Star Wars was being developed.
He had wowed critics with his Tony Award-winning performance as a boxer in 1968 play The Great White Hope, later taking on the lead in the 1970 movie adaptation, for which he picked up a Golden Globe.The actor demonstrated his versatility in everything from Shakespearean epics to television dramas and comedies.He played memorable film roles including reclusive writer Terence Mann in 1989’s Field Of Dreams and a South African minister in Cry, The Beloved Country.In 2005, the veteran star reprised Vader for Revenge Of The Sith and he returned to the role nine years later in the first episode of Star Wars Rebels, and in 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
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