Happy Birthday James Earl Jones! He is one of the most distinctive baritone of a voice which he turned to acting to control his stutter. One of his first film roles was Dr. Strangelove (1964). Jones is an accomplished stage actor, winning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for The Great White Hope in 1969. He took the part of Jack Johnson along with co-star Jane Alexander, from the stage to film with The Great White Hope (1970). Jones played Lennie on Broadway in Of Mice and Men (1974). He of course provided the voice for Darth Vader in Star Wars (1977) and starred in Exorcist II: The Heretic also that year. James Earl was the villainous Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian (1980). His voice was also heard again as Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and then Return of the Jedi (1983). An iconic role was his Tony Award winning performance in August Wilson’s Fences (1987) as Troy Maxson. This is my favorite part he played. One of his interesting roles was in the comedy Coming to America (1988) playing King Jaffe Joffer. The following year, he was Terence Mann In Field of Dreams.
In 1990, Jones starred as Admiral Greer in the Hunt for Red October. Also that year, Jones won an Emmy for Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries for his role as Junius Johnson in Heatwave (1990). He was Gabriel Bird in the tv drama Gabriel’s Fire (1990-1991), in 1991, he won an Emmy for Best Actor for the show. Jones returned as Admiral Greer in Patriot Games (1992). He had another great role as Mr. Mertle in The Sandlot (1993). Then, he was Earnest Moses in the superhero comedy The Meteor Man (1993). Another iconic role for Jones was as the voice of Mufasa in the Disney animated film, The Lion King (1994). He was also Franklin Stern in a 1994 episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Next, Jones returned as Admiral Greer in Clear and Present Danger (1994). Jones was the voice of Unas in the “Thor’s Hammer” (1997) episode of Stargate SG-1. In 2002, Jones was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors. Jones wrote an autobiography, Voices and Silences, in 2004. He was back on Broadway in 2008 starring in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Jones played himself in “The Convention Conundrum” (2014) of The Big Bang Theory. He returned to voice Mufasa in The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar (2015) and also Darth Vader in a few episodes of Star Wars: Rebels. Jones also back as Mufasa in the Lion King (2019)! He will return as Jaffe Joffer in Coming 2 America. Happy Birthday James Earl Jones!
#JamesEarlJones, #Fences, #ComingtoAmerica, #LionKing
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