James Earl Jones: A Man I Really Shouldn't Have to Tell You About, You Should Just Know.
Born on January 17, 1931 James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi to Ruth Williams Jones and Robert Earl Jones. Shortly after James’ birth, his father left to pursue an acting career in New York and Hollywood. James didn’t get to have a relationship with his father until he was in his 20s.
James was primarily raised by his maternal grandparents, John Henry and Maggie Williams, from the age of 5. During the Great Migration, they moved from Mississippi to Jackson, Michigan, and James found the transition difficult, developing a stutter so serious he decided to stop speaking. He was mute for 8 years before the family moved to Brethren, Michigan; it was here a teacher, Donald Crouch, his English teacher, noticed his affinity for poetry and
helped through his stutter. He graduated high school as the vice president of his class.
He attended the University of Michigan as a pre-med major at first. He joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps where he participated in the Pershing Rifles and Drill team and Scabbard and Blade Honor Society. After realizing that being a doctor wasn’t what he truly wanted to do, he began to focus on drama at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He graduated from college in 1955.
The college theatre is where James’ love for acting really grew, having taken part in a production of Shakespeare’s “Othello” and working as a stage manager and stage carpenter.
James Earl Jones is a SEASONED stage actor, okay. This man has won Tony Awards for “The Great White Hope” and “Fences.” He’s been in multiple Shakespeare plays, including “Othello” (as mentioned above), “King Lear,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Measure for Measure” (I don’t even know what that is), and “Hamlet,” He’s also been in “Of Mice and Men,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Rood,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “The Iceman Cometh,” and “On Golden Pond.”
Essentially, he was killing it on the stage.
Moving along to film, y’all know what Jame was about. If not, let me drop some knowledge on ya. His first film role came in 1964 in “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” HIs first starring film role was in the film version of “The Great White Hope,” portraying boxer Jack Jefferson.
He was the second Black man to receive a nomination for Best Actor by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, second to Sidney Poitier.
He was in “The Cay,” “Conan the Barbarian,” “Field of Dreams,” “The Sandlot,” “Cry, the Beloved Country,” “Clear and Present Danger,” “The Hunt for Red October,” and, of course, he played the ICONIC King Jaffe Joffer in Coming to America. He’s been in many other films, but y’all gotta look those up on your own.
Okay. Voice acting. Let’s get it.
IF YOU DON’T KNOW JAMES EARL JONES IS MUFASA FROM THE LION KING, YOU’VE BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK YOUR ENTIRE LIFE, and he’s the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars (not in costume, just voice). (Side note: I didn’t/haven’t watched those. I’m sorry.)
And TV has obviously also been a thing. From “Roots: The Next Generations” to “Guiding Light” to appearing on Sesame Street, this man has done it all. He’s also the ONLY actor to win two Emmys in the same year (1991) for Best Actor in “Gabriel’s Fire” and Best Supporting Actor in “Heat Wave.”
You can catch this stellar actor in The new Lion King remake, in which he will be reprising his role as Mufasa. Be there or be square.
