I know everyone is talking about how he voiced Vader, but when I think of him, I think of Strangelove and Hunt for Red October. I didn't spend a lot of time in the fleet, but what I did was rather boring and/or annoying; the idea that something exciting would happen in the CIC is probably why I often think of the line "Now, understand, Commander, that torpedo did not self-destruct. You heard it hit the hull. And I was never here."
James narrating Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven in the very first Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode (2x03), to the backdrop of the quirky and artistic early-Simpsons animation, was such a wonderful union of beautiful cross-generational zeitgeist.
A slightly less cliche fact about James Earl Jones: his film debut was Kubrick's <i>Dr. Strangelove</i>, where he plays the bombardier on the B-52[1].<p>[1]: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSbPqin3L6E" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSbPqin3L6E</a>
I recommend his reading of Frederick Douglass's "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" [1]. The combination of Jones's voice and Douglass's incisive eloquence is really something special.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0baE_CtU08" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0baE_CtU08</a>
My favorite story from the CB radio era:<p>“I did that once when I was traveling cross-country. I used Darth as my handle on the CB radio. The truck drivers would really freak out — for them, it was Darth Vader. I had to stop doing that,” Jones told the Times magazine.
You know he was good when the Lion King remake had a chance to recast the entire movie with actors like Beyoncé and Donald Glover and the casting director was like “well obviously we aren’t changing Mufasa.”
Such an iconic voice. And the fact he got to put voice to so many iconic lines that are hard to imagine coming from anyone else. His speech in Field of Dreams, obviously Vader's "I am your father". Basically all of his lines as Mufasa in Lion King.<p>I just can't think of any voice from the newer generations of actors/VAs that stands up to what he brought. And while his voice was incredible, he clearly mastered it and gave his lines the maximum impact they could have beyond the simple utterance.
He's done a lot of great work. Selfishly, one of my favorites is narrating the University of Michigan (his alma mater) football hype videos and stadium announcements. Always felt unique and fun.<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1PFH3w_b8g" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1PFH3w_b8g</a>
Here he is in 2009, performing Shakespeare at the (Obama) "White House Evening of Poetry, Music and the Spoken Word": <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJybA1emr_g" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJybA1emr_g</a> (Othello's speech defending himself: [1])<p>(Incidentally, it was on the same occasion that Lin-Manuel Miranda first announced he was working on a hip-hop album about treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton, to some laughter, before performing a sample: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNFf7nMIGnE" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNFf7nMIGnE</a> — the musical came out six years later.)<p>[1]: <a href="https://www.litcharts.com/shakescleare/shakespeare-translations/othello/act-1-scene-3#:~:text=Most%20powerful%2C%20serious%2C%20and%20honorable,that%20I%20have%20married%20her" rel="nofollow">https://www.litcharts.com/shakescleare/shakespeare-translati...</a>.
Cry The Beloved Country, based on the book by beloved South African writer Alan Paton.<p>They did justice to the book. He was spectacular in his portrayal.<p>As a South African it resonates deeply with me and is more relevant now, than ever before.
For a while I had "Infidel defilers...they shall all drown in lakes of blood." as my ringtone.<p>"What is steel compared to the hand that wields it?"<p>Such an accomplished and memorable individual. RIP.
I saw him close up filming "Three Fugitives" with Martin Short in Tacoma, WA on a random summer day in 1988. He grinned and gave a peace sign to my friends and I. I don't know if they make them like him any more.
As a South African, Cry The Beloved Country resonates deeply with me. Thank you, sir, for all that you gave.<p>Read the book by Alan Paton, and you may go down a rabbithole.<p>They did the story justice with that movie.
Every time I see this man I think of this scene with Robin Williams [1] from The Angriest Man in Brooklyn. RIP.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ2qRWPda78" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ2qRWPda78</a>
He was 93, and of course this kind of thing is expected and we shouldn't be surprised by news like this, but somehow this news hit hard. I guess after 40, when your own personal heroes pass, part of you dies with them.
I have a vague memory of him reading books on some PBS show in the 80s. Am I misremembering this? I can’t find it in his filmography, though it may have been Fairytale Theater.
When I was 11, I had the incredible opportunity to join him in the recording booth during one of his voice-overs for Bell South. I stuttered badly at the time, but he was incredibly kind and understanding. He took 30 minutes out of his day to sit with a kid he didn't even know and talk about the art of speech—it was life-changing. I’ll never forget that day.<p>A few months later, we received two large 3x3' posters in the mail. Blown-up photos of us working together that day. In the lower right-hand corner of each, he had signed them, "May the force be with you! JEJ / To my friend, Best Wishes, JEJ (AKA Mustafa)."<p>What an awesome guy. I just pulled those pictures out, and 29 years later, I’m still filled with awe and immense gratitude.
I had the privelege of meeting James Earl Jones when I was in college. I was taking a theater appreciation class and our professor got us tickets and bakestage passesto a Broadway production of Othello. Mr. Jones was very welcoming and even discussed the meaning of the handkerchief in Othello with me. He was so welcoming and so willing to talk with some college students, I will always remember this moment and share it with anyone sho's willing to listen!
His genie in Shelly Duval's Fairy Tail Theater: Aladdin (directed by Tim Burton) was terrifying and brilliant!<p><a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=_hDTxK4xfCA" rel="nofollow">https://youtube.com/watch?v=_hDTxK4xfCA</a>
Very sad news. Very good actor - far beyond than just the voice of Vader.
I would not be surprised he is a good bloke behind the camera, and sadly missed by those close to him.
> “The secret is never forgetting that you’re a journeyman actor and that nothing is your final thing, nothing is your greatest thing, nothing is your worst thing,” Jones said. “I still consider myself a novice.”<p>Beautiful advice.<p>One of my favorite scenes:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SB16il97yw&t=16s" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SB16il97yw&t=16s</a>
The comments are here: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41493976">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41493976</a>
Star Wars was relentlessly changed by George Lucas - for the worse in my opinion.<p>Star Wars should have been changed to give James Earl Jones starring billing, instead of no credit at all.