Key Points
Los Angeles: American actor James Earl Jones, an imposing stage and screen presence who overcame a childhood stutter to develop a stentorian voice recognized the world over as intergalactic villain Darth Vader, died on Monday at the age of 93...
Jones, a longtime sufferer of diabetes, died at his home surrounded by family members, his agent, Barry McPherson, said.. No cause of death was provided...
Jones had a great physical presence on stage and television, as well as in movies, but he would have been a star even if his face was never seen because his voice had a career of its own..
Jones also was heard in dozens of television commercials and for several years CNN used his authoritative This is CNN to introduce its newscasts.. James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931, in the tiny community of Arkabutla, Mississippi, to a family with a mixed ethnic background of Irish, African and Cherokee...
Dominic Hawkins, a spokesperson for the NAACP in Washington, said Jones winning of big roles even as the Jim Crow racial caste system still plagued the American South was hugely important for the Black community...
