Darth Vader voice, Field of Dreams star, EGOT winner

James Earl Jones, the revered actor who star Wars Villain Darth Vader, played in Field of Dreams and many other films and Broadway shows and is an EGOT winner, died this morning at his home in Dutchess County, NY. He was 93 years old.

His representatives at the Independent Artist Group confirmed the news to Deadline.

Jones is considered one of the world's greatest stage and screen actors and is one of the few entertainers to have won the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony), although his Oscar was only an honorary award. Jones has received two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Daytime Emmy, a spoken-word Grammy Award in 1977 and three Tony Awards.

The actor has made nearly 200 film appearances during his brilliant 60-year career, starting with a few guest roles on television in the early 1960s and ending with Stanley Kubrick's 1964 classic. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). He is probably best known for his voice role as the insidious Darth Vader in George Lucas' original star Wars Trilogy: star Wars (1977) The Empire Strikes Back1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). He also played the role of the villain in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019) and TV's Obi Wan Kenobi And Star Wars: Rebels.

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Movie fans will remember such chilling, immortal Vader quotes as “When I left you, I was only the learner – now I am the master”, “I find your lack of faith disturbing” and of course “No, I am your father.”

Another of Jones' most popular roles is Terence Mann, the reclusive 1960s writer who reluctantly teams up with Kevin Costner's Ray Kinsella to decipher his visions of baseball history. Field of Dreams (1989). Based on the 1982 novel Shoeless Joe, the film by screenwriter and director Phil Alden Robinson dragged – no, torn – tugs at the heartstrings with its sweet nostalgia, thrilling plot, father-son dynamic, and overall excellence.

The film received three Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture, but lost to Miss Daisy and her chauffeur – a film in whose Broadway adaptation Jones starred as Hoke Colburn, the character played by Morgan Freeman on the big screen.

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Jones also commented The Lion King's Mufasa in both the 1994 animated film and the 2019 hybrid remake. His dozens of other films include The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars and Motor Kings (1976), A piece of the cake (1977), Conan the Barbarian (1982), Soul Man (1986), Coming to America (1988), Hunt for Red October (1990), The Patriot Games (1992), sneakers (1992), The sandbank (1993), Clear and present danger (1994), Judge Dredd (1995), Gear related (1997) and Coming to America 2 (2021).

He also lent his sonorous voice to the famous advertising campaign “This is CNN” for the cable news channel and repeatedly appeared as a narrator on Beyond Stone III. He also appeared on The Simpsons three times.

His numerous TV productions include guest roles in classic series such as The Big Bang Theory, Dr. House, Two and a Half Men, Homicide: Life on the Street, Frasier, Touch of Heaven, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Picket Fences, Law & Order, Sesame Street, An Angel on Earth, NYPD Blue; Soap operas during the day Guiding light And How the world turns; and miniseries Roots: The next generation And Jesus of Nazareth.

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For his role in The great white hope (1971) and was awarded an honorary Oscar at the 2012 ceremony.

He was nominated for an Emmy eight times, both of his awards coming in 1991: Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Gabriel's Fire and supporting actor in a miniseries or a special for heat wave.

Born on January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla, MS, Jones was a 2002 Kennedy Center Honoree and received Lifetime Achievement Awards from SAG-AFTRA in 2009 and the National Board of Review in 1995.

Jones is an impressive presence on the Broadway stage and has been nominated four times for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, winning twice for his portrayal of Jack Jefferson in The great white hope 1969 and as Troy Maxson in August Wilson’s Fences in 1987. He received a Special Tony Award at the 2017 ceremony.

The great white hopein which he played a slightly fictionalized version of heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, was Jones' breakthrough role. He also starred in the 1970 film adaptation, his first leading role on the big screen.

He has appeared in nearly two dozen Broadway shows, from his first leading role in Sunrise in Campobello (1958) and most recently in The Gin Game (2017). Along the way he played in productions of stage classics such as The Iceman comes (1974), Othello (1982), At the Golden Pond (2005), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008) And You can't take it with you (2014).

In September 2022, the Shubert Organization renamed its 110-year-old Cort Theater The James Earl Jones Theater. The dedication ceremony was attended by Samuel L. Jackson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Norm Lewis and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Jones did not attend the dedication ceremony, but had received a private tour of the facility where he made his Broadway debut in 1958 the week before.

“It would have been unimaginable to me, standing in this very building 64 years ago at the start of my Broadway career, that my name would be on the building today,” Jones said in a statement at the time. “May my journey from then to now be an inspiration to all aspiring actors.”

Information on survivors and memorial plans was not available.