Whether you recognized his baritone voice as the King of the Animal Kingdom, the understanding blind man that embodied the world’s love of baseball or the dominating Lord in a galaxy far, far away, James Earl Jones, the voice of many childhoods, passed away Sept. 9, 2024.  Jones was 93 years old, portraying iconic characters across multiple different franchises for 65 years. 

Jones’ life was  not as tender as it might have seemed through his cheerful and loving personality. He dealt with immensely traumatic events from his childhood.  Shortly after his birth, Jones’s father abandoned him and his mother. After his mother remarried a new man when Jones was around 5 or 6, she abandoned him as well, leaving Jones to be raised by his grandparents, which was a struggle for Jones.

“I was raised by a very racist grandmother who was part Cherokee, part Choctaw and Black… She was the most racist person, bigoted person I have ever known,” Jones said in an interview with BBC in 2011. 

The effect of his familial trauma in his childhood began to take a toll on Jones, who gained an intense stutter, causing him to go mute and communicate through writing. Through all this pain and struggle, Jones still persevered. With the help of his high school English teacher, Jones found his voice again, reciting poems everyday to help overcome his shyness and develop methods to combat his stutter. 

Although the impediment never fully went away, Jones was able to utilize his newfound love for speaking, and convert that into the award-winning career he is known for today. After high school, Jones got his degree from the University of Michigan in Drama, yet he decided to join the Army while in college, getting up to the rank of first lieutenant, but he decided to resign from his commission to move to New York and become an actor. 

Here are some of the stories behind Jones’s iconic roles.

Star Wars (Darth Vader) (1977-2022)

During the filming of Star Wars in 1977, Jones wasn’t the initial voice of Vader during production. It was the 6’7” giant of David Prowse, yet when George Lucas, creator of the franchise, watched the scenes with Prowse’s voice as Vader, he knew a new voice was going to be needed for the menacing villain. After a few phone calls , Jones was chosen as the voice of Vader, and filmed all of  his lines in 2 hours. Little did he know, his voice would become one of the most iconic villains in all of fiction. Jones would go on to play the character for almost half a century, becoming the voice of the franchise. 

The Lion King (Mufasa) (1994) (2019)

Mufasa is a character Jones related to the most. Being a father and having to feel that level of love and protection for his family made him perfect for the role. When Jones was recording his lines for The Lion King, the animators would take inspiration from Jones’s actual facial expressions, allowing for Mufasa to feel more like Jones in the film. As Jones recorded, he changed the intended tone of the way Mufasa reacted to events, using his knowledge of being a father to inspire his tone, he knew he had to  be a wise King, and a loving father as well. 

The Sandlot (Mr. Mertle) (1993)

Although Jones wasn’t even in a quarter of the film, this is one of his most iconic roles, a testament to his talent and skill. Jones played Mr. Mertle, the blind gentle giant that had the same love for baseball as many of the film viewers. After Jones’s passing, many fans were quick to recite the iconic line from the film, when saying their respects, “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.” 

Field of Dreams (Terence Mann) (1989)

Two of Jones’s most iconic roles were films about baseball. Jones’s role in Field of Dreams is Terence Mann, a writer and activist who shut himself off from people until the main character, Ray Kinsella, takes Mann on his journey. 

Phil Alden Robinson wrote the character with Jones in mind, thinking it would be funny to see someone as large as Jones be kidnapped by someone as small as Kevin Costner.

Since his passing, Jones’s fellow co-stars have shared how much he impacted their lives,

“One of the world’s finest actors whose contributions to Star Wars were immeasurable. He’ll be greatly missed. #RIP dad ,” Mark Hamil said on Instagram, sharing a picture of the two of them. 

Billy Dee Williams, another one of Jones’s co-stars also commented.  “…His legacy will live on forever, and though he’s gone, his presence will be felt.” Williams said.