James Earl Jones won immortality as the sinister voice of Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” saga, but his six-decade versatile career spans much more, in film, television and especially theatre. , January 17, 1931), is one of the few who aimed for the “EGOT”, the acronym for those who win the main awards of the entertainment industry in the USA (although one of them was symbolic): he has two Emmys (television), a Grammy (music), an honorary Oscar (film) and three Tonys (theater), one of them honorary. James Earl Jones in 1961″ data-title=”James Earl Jones turns 92: actor is much more than the immortal voice of Darth Vader – Frog Mag”> 
James Earl Jones in 1961 James Earl Jones was the son of Ruth Williams, a teacher, and Robert Earl Jones, a boxer and then one of the first professional black actors with a regular career and who, although without as much fame as his descendant, had relative prominence from the late 1930s to the early 1990s, with prominent participation in the films “A Golpada” and “Cotton Club”. But his parents separated before he was born (he only met his father and took the breaks many years later) and he went to live with his maternal grandparents on a farm in Michigan, a change so traumatic that he acquired a stutter that he only surpassed in his later life. secondary education with the help of poetry and acting. He entered the State University, initially to study medicine, at the same time that he joined the army. Later, he would say in interviews that he felt integrated into the structure of the military environment and the camaraderie, but he realized that he had no vocation to be a doctor and knowing that he would inevitably be drafted into the Korean War (1950-1953), he preferred to focus on something I liked, studying Theater at the School of Music, Theater and Dance at the same university. He ended up being called only after the end of the conflict and attended the basic course for infantry officers and before being discharged, he had already been promoted to first lieutenant. he went to New York to study Theater, supporting himself by working as a doorman. In 1957 he made his Broadway debut as an understudy actor. In the following decade, he becomes one of the best-known actors in William Shakespeare’s plays, such as Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and other characters. It was at this stage that he made his film debut, and it wasn’t just any: it was Lieutenant Lothar Zogg in “Dr. Strangelove”, the Stanley Kubrick classic (1964). “The Great White Hope”” data-title=”James Earl Jones turns 92: actor is much more than the immortal voice of Darth Vader – Frog Mag”> 
“The Great White Hope” Another role as a surgeon and Haitian rebel leader in the film “The Comedians”, opposite Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor (1967) preceded the first Tony Award (theater) in 1969 for the portrayal of a talented but troubled boxer in “The Great White Hope”, a gigantic success that he ended up repeating in the film adaptation in 1970, which earned him a nomination for the Oscar for Best Actor, the only competitive one of his career (he was the second black actor nominated in the category, after Sidney Poitier, who won the statuette with the second nomination in 1963 with “The Lilies of the Field”). It fails to reach the Oscars, but is nominated for the second time for the Golden Globes for the romantic comedy “Claudine – Body and Soul” (1974) and international fame and immortality arrived when George Lucas used his strong vocal ability to voice Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” trilogy (1977-1983), an instant phenomenon both at the box office and in popular culture. Still in 1977, he won his only Grammy with the narration of “Great American Documents”. “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980)” data-title=”James Earl Jones turns 92: actor is much more than the immortal voice of Darth Vader – FROG Mag”> 
“The Empire Strikes Back” (1980) His second competitive Tony came with the play “Vedações” in 1987, at a time when he was already a prestigious secondary actor with that unmistakable voice in cinema, in films with more or less success and as diverse as “Conan and the Barbarians” (1982), “Gardens of Stone” (1987) or “Matewan” (1987) and, unfortunately, in that failure called “The Exorcist II: The Heretic” (1977). class on the big screen as Eddie Murphy’s father in “A Prince in New York” (1988), “Field of Dreams” (1989), “The Three Fugitives” (1989), “The Hunt for Red October” (1990), “Power Games – The Attack” (1992), “Accidental Heroes” (1992), “The Sandlot” (1993), “Jefferson in Paris”(1995) or, after a long absence, “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins” (2008). His voice was also heard on CNN between the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 21st century, but it was in 1994 that brought him another great moment in his career, as Mufasa, Simba’s father, in mega success that was the animation ” The Lion King”. A work with such an impact that it was the only one to return to the same role in Disney’s photorealistic version, 25 years later. “Gabriel’s Fire” (TV)” data-title=”James Earl Jones turns 92: actor is much more than the immortal voice of Darth Vader – SAPO Mag”> 
“Gabriel’s Fire” (TV) In the early 1990s, he intensified his work on television, series and especially telefilms. At the 1991 Emmy ceremony he won two awards, as Best Actor in a Drama Series as “Gabriel’s Fire” and Secondary Actor for the telefilm “Onda de Violência” (1990). -Americans, enshrined with several honors, the rhythm slowed down in the 21st century and cinema and television lost to work in the theater, having on stage partners such as Phylicia Rashad, Angela Lansbury, Annaleigh Ashford or Cicely Tyson.The most recent appearance in a film was a return to a character he described as one of the “most fun and iconic” he had the “pleasure to play”: that of King Joffer in the Amazon Prime Video sequel to “A Prince in New York”. And it is impossible to ignore the moment: in the middle of the party and with a sense of accomplishment, he announces to his son that he is going to die. Despite the sequence being involved in a big party, due to his advanced age, it was recorded separately from the other actors and integrated thanks to to the magic of cinema. “The Prince returns to New York” (2021) ” data-title=”James Earl Jones turns 92: actor is much more than the immortal voice of Darth Vader – SAPO Mag”> 
“The Prince returns to New York” (2021) At the end of September 2022, James Earl Jones returned to the present: it became known that he will not record new dialogues like Darth Vader after recording a sentence for the last time for “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” in 2019. A Vanity Fair report noted that the voice changed with age and Jones retired from the role, but his voice continued to be heard with the majestic grandeur as always in the recent miniseries “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and the mystery was clarified: the actor ceded the rights so that the recordings in the archive continue to be used to keep Vader alive with the help, ironically, of an artificial intelligence program developed by a ‘ start-up’ from Ukraine. His name appears in the production credits for Disney+ and Matthew Wood, a veteran sound editor at Lucasfilm, described his contribution as that of a “generous sponsor” who, informed of the plans of the studio for Vader, stayed involved in the process of perfecting the voice, guiding the performance and giving advice on staying in the right direction with the character. Thanks to the magic of technology, his voice became, by his will, literally immortal…