The Many Faces of James Earl Jones

Famed actor James Earl Jones passed away recently at the age of 93. Most of us, upon hearing his name, think of the voice of Darth Vader from the Star Wars films, or possibly that of Mufasa, Simba's father in The Lion King. But his acting and voice talent went far beyond those famous roles. He performed on stage on Broadway, off-Broadway, in London's West End, and in theatres in cities throughout the world. He performed major and minor film roles, and major and minor television roles. He did voiceover work. He did commercials. He narrated symphonic performances and audiobooks. He did it all! 

Here is a chronological walk-through of some of his roles over his long and illustrious career, as well as some of the awards and honors he has received. 

1961, as Deodatus in The Blacks at the St. Mark's Playhouse, New York (off-Broadway), with Cicely Tyson as Stephanie. This production was the longest-running off-Broadway non-musical of the decade. In addition to Jones and Tyson, the cast featured such future luminaries as Roscoe Lee Brown, Louis Gossett Jr., and Maya Angelou. 

1963, as Joe Goodwin in the television drama East Side/West Side, with Diana Sands as Ruth Goodwin. Jones was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for outstanding guest actor for the role. The series centered around a NYC social worker (played by George C. Scott) dealing with the struggles of inner city residents, often addressing controversial topics such as prostitution and statutory rape. In this episode, Jones and Sands play parents struggling to make ends meet, when their child is bitten by a rat and may have rabies, causing both parents to go into mental and emotional tailspins. 

1964, as Lt. Lothar Zogg in the classic Kubrick film Dr. Strangelove, Jones' first credited film role.  Zogg is a small role. but in a major film, so he got some notice. 

1967, as Dr. Magiot in the film The Comedians, with Richard Burton, Alec Guinness, Elizabeth Taylor, and Peter Ustinov. Jones' character was a surgeon who was involved in a rebellion against Papa Doc Duvalier, the Haitian dictator. He attempts to enlist an English arms dealer played by Alec Guinness. The two would, of course, go on to play opposite each other again years later, in a little franchise known as Star Wars... 

 

1968, as Jack Jefferson in The Great White Hope at the Alvin Theater, Broadway. The play is loosely based on the life of boxer Jack Johnson, whose career was filled with scandal, including an interracial marriage. Jones won a Tony Award for his performance, and went on to reprise the role in the movie adaptation in 1970, for which he received both an Academy Award nomination and the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Male.

1970, as himself in the children's television show Sesame Street. Jones was the first celebrity guest to appear on the show, and recited the alphabet for the audience in a youthful but still distinctively deep voice. 

1970, as Boesman in Boesman and Lena at the Circle in the Square Downtown (off-Broadway), with Ruby Dee as Lena. Written by a South African playwright, Athol Fugard, and based on Fugard's personal experience with apartheid, it premiered in South Africa in 1969 with Fugard in the role of Boesman. The Circle in the Square production was the US premiere. 

1970, as Tshembe Matoseh in Les Blancs at the Longacre Theater, Broadway, with Earle Hyman as Abioseh Matoseh and Harold Scott as Eric. The play's title is a deliberate reflection of The Blacks (which was originally in French, with the title Les Negres), and the play itself was written in response to the playwright, Lorraine Hansberry, seeing Les Negres. Hansberry died before completing the final draft of the script, which was finally compiled and edited by her ex-husband, Robert Nemiroff, more than five years after her death.  

1971, in the title role of Othello at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, with Jill Clayburgh as Desdemona. Jones had first played the role of Othello in 1955 in Manistee, Michigan, after graduating from the University of Michigan. He played the role again in 1964 in the New York Shakespeare Festival, in this production in 1971, and finally on Broadway in 1982 (see below).  

1972, as Douglass Dillman in the dramatic film The Man. Dillman is the "designated survivor" when an accident kills the US President and, through a series of events, he becomes both the first African-American US President and the first wholly-unelected one. The film was written by Rod Serling and based on a novel of the same name by Irving Wallace.  

1973, as Hickey in The Iceman Cometh at the Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway. Eugene O'Neill's classic play was written in 1939 but not published until 1946, and it premiered on Broadway the same year. It was adapted for television in 1960, revived on Broadway in 1973, 1985, 1999, and 2018, and revived on the London stage in 1998, as well as other major cities. Other notable actors who performed the role of Hickey include Jason Robards, Brian Dennehy, Kevin Spacey, Nathan Lane, and Denzel Washington. 

1973, in the title role of King Lear by New York's Shakespeare in the Park, with Rosalind Cash as Goneril and Ellen Holly as Regan. This version was adapted for television as an episode of Great Performances the following year. The cast included Paul Sorvino, Raul Julia, and Rene Auberjonois. 

1974, as Lennie in Of Mice and Men at the Brooks Atkinson Theater, Broadway. The play, based on the classic Steinbeck novel, was originally produced on Broadway in 1937, with this production being the first revival. Jones' large size and looming presence made him a natural choice for the hulking but sweet and simple-minded Lennie. 

1974, as Roop Marshall in the film Claudine with Diahann Carroll in the title role. Marshall is a trash collector who falls for a single mother with six children, a woman dependent on the welfare she would lose if she marries him. Jones received a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for his performance.

1977, as the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope. Jones was uncredited in this first film of the series, and reportedly earned $7,000 for 2-1/2 hours in the recording studio. The marvelous all-black costume design by John Mollo, with sweeping cape, leather gloves, and intimidating helmet and face mask, combined with the towering physical presence of actor David Prowse inside the costume were terrifying enough, but it was Jones' deep voice and barely-controlled rage tossing off lines like, "I find your lack of faith...disturbing," that appeared in our nightmares. 

 

1977, as Malcolm X in the biopic The Greatest, with Muhammad Ali as himself. The script, which was co-written by Ali, follows the boxer's life from the 1960 Olympics through the 1974 "rumble in the jungle" against George Foreman, and includes much archival footage of Ali's fights. 

1977, in the title role of Oedipus Rex at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York (off-off-Broadway). This production was a workshop that ran for just three weekends.  

Jones received a Grammy Award for Spoken Word in 1977, shared with Henry Fonda, Helen Hayes, and Orson Welles, for their recording of "Great American Documents." The recording included a performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by the New York Philharmonic, Orson Welles reading the Declaration of Independence, all four performers reading the U.S. Constitution, Helen Hayes reading the Bill of Rights, and Jones reading the Emancipation Proclamation. 

1978, another appearance on Sesame Street. as a movie star visiting Mr. Hooper's store. Big Bird is enthralled with his "big, looooong, long car," his ascot, and his sunglasses, and the adult characters are equally star-struck. Jones also appeared in the 10th anniversary special, A Walking Tour of Sesame Street" in 1979, bookending the show with an opening narration in which he chats with the various characters (including Mr. Hooper, who delightfully calls him "Jimmy"), shaking hands with kids and adults alike, and closing with a charming conversation with Big Bird (BB: "You know, I've learned a lot on Sesame Street!" JEJ: "And I've met...many friends." *puts his arm around BB*) as the two walk down the street together. 

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1979, as Alex Haley in the television miniseries Roots: The Next Generations, with Marlon Brando as George Lincoln Rockwell. The original miniseries traced Haley's slave roots, but the 1979 sequel showed Haley in the present day, facing ongoing bigotry from sources such as Rockwell, the leader of the American Nazi Party. 

1979-1980, as the title character in the television series Paris, with Lee Chamberlin as Barbara Paris. Jones portrayed Captain Woody Paris, an L.A. detective in charge of a group of rookies, and who also taught criminology at a local university. Ratings were low, due in part to its Saturday 10pm timeslot, and the show was canceled after one season, with two of the 13 episodes filmed never making it to air. However, one of Jones' co-stars, Cecilia Hart, became his second wife several years later, so the experience wasn't a total loss. 

1980, back voicing Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back, this time completely stealing the movie with his spot-on delivery of the oft (mis-) quoted line, "No, I am your father."

1982, as the title role in Othello at the Winter Garden Theater, Broadway, with Christopher Plummer as Iago. The production was originally mounted by the American Shakespeare Company in Stratford CT in 1981, before being slightly revamped and moved to Broadway. 

1982, as Thulsa Doom in the film Conan the Barbarian. Jones' gravitas and his serious take on the villain role brought the campy film to a new level. And he managed to do it in a terrible wig. While occasionally morphing into a snake. 

1982, as Sam in "MASTER HAROLD"...and the Boys at the Lyceum Theater, Broadway, with Leroy Lindo as Willie. Written by Athol Fugard, the South African playwright who also penned Boesman and Lena, this semiautobiographical play is set in apartheid South Africa in 1950, and examines a white teen's relationships with his family's black servants. 

1983, in The Return of the Jedi, we finally see Darth Vader's face, right after Jones delivers the heartbreaking line, "It is too late for me, son." Only the most masterful of actors could bring that combination of evil and regret to his voice. 

1985, as Troy Maxson in the world premiere of Fences at the Yale Repertory Theater. The August Wilson play is set in 1950s Pittsburgh, at the beginning of the black rights movement, and explores the themes of race relations and generational trauma. Troy was a promising baseball player in the Negro League until he went to prison for a murder he committed during a robbery. He returns from prison to a menial job and struggles to relate to his now teenaged sons. 

1987, as Troy Maxson in Fences at the 46th Street Theater, Broadway, with Courtney B. Vance as Cory. The director and most of the cast were the same as the 1985 Yale production. Jones won his second Tony Award for this performance. The play itself won the Tony Award for Best Play, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. 

1987, as "Few Clothes" Johnson in the film Matewan, about miners in West Virginia attempting to unionize in the 1920s. Johnson has to decide whether to become a scab against the white miners, eventually standing with them and encouraging the other black miners to support the white miners as well. 

1988, as King Jaffe Joffer in the Eddie Murphy film Coming to America, with Sheila Johnson, Madge Sinclair, and Paul Bates. Jones pokes fun at his own regal-ness with a nearly slapstick comedic performance at delicious odds with his dignified bearing and rich voice. 

1989, as Terence Mann in the film Field of Dreams, with Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella and Amy Madigan as Annie Kinsella. Mann is a gruff, non-nonsense Boston sportswriter who eventually gets sucked into Kinsella's dream. Jones makes the transition not only believable, but inevitable. 

1990, as Admiral Greer in the film The Hunt for Red October, with Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan. Greer is the Deputy Director of the CIA, and a mentor for the brilliant but green young gun Ryan. Jones' confidence lets him dominate every room he enters yet still allow Ryan to take the lead at times. 

1990, as Junius Johnson in the TV movie Heat Wave, with Cicely Tyson as Ruthana Richardson and Blair Underwood as Bob Richardson. Jones won a Primetime Emmy for Best Supporting Actor for this role. 

1990, as the title character in the series Gabriel's Fire, with Laila Robbins as Victoria Heller. Jones' Gabriel Bird is a Chicago cop who was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering a fellow cop, although he only shot him to protect an innocent mother and child the other cop was about to kill. Twenty years into his sentence he's released (against his will) and eventually becomes a private detective helping other wrongly accused victims. The series only lasted for one season, but Jones won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1991 as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. 

1990, Yellow Pages ad. It wasn't exactly, "I'd listen to him read the phone book," but Jones' commanding closing line, "No one can match it. A Bell Atlantic Company," made us all stand up and pay attention. 

1992, as Admiral Greer again in the film Patriot Games, the sequel to The Hunt for Red October, this time with Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan. With the passage of time, Ryan and Greer are now closer to being peers than having a mentor-mentee relationship, and the chemistry and comfort between Jones and Ford makes that change completely believable. 

1992, as Bernard Abbott in the film Sneakers, with Robert Redford as Martin Bishop and David Strathairn as Whistler. This film is a particular favorite of mine, due in no small part to NSA Director Abbott's frustration with Bishop and his ragtag crew of hackers and their lack of willingness to cooperate with his buttoned-up style.

1993, as Mr. Mertle in the film The Sandlot, with Mike Vitar as Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez and Tom Guiry as Scotty Smalls. Mertle is the owner of a junkyard and, as a group of boys discover when they lose a valuable baseball over his fence, a big baseball fan. Jones as Mertle manages to be both terrifying AND charming and fatherly. 

1994, Jones' final appearance as Admiral Greer, in A Clear and Present Danger, again with Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan. Greer's death launches Ryan into a solo career, but one in which we can still feel Greer's influence. 

1994, as the voice of Mufasa in The Lion King. The role is somewhat brief, as Mufasa's death is what launches the main part of the plot. Yet, that kingly voice echoes in not only Simba's mind, but the audience's, as we feel his influence on his son throughout the film. Jones' Shakespearean background was ideal for the Hamlet-inspired plot. 

1995, as Rev. Stephen Kumalo in the film Cry, the Beloved Country, with Richard Harris as James Jarvis. Set in South Africa just before apartheid, Kumalo's son is arrested for murdering Jarvis' son and the two must cope with their own issues and the issues of the society around them. 

1996, as Ray Murdock in the film A Family Thing, with Robert Duvall as Earl Pilcher. Set in Arkansas, Pilcher's mother informs him on her deathbed that she is not his mother, but that he was the product of his father raping their black housemaid (who died giving birth to him), and she begs him to go to Chicago to meet his black half-brother, Ray. Earl gets beaten up and Ray and his family reluctantly take him in so he can recover, and they develop a relationship. 

1997, as Felix Wilson in an episode of the television drama Homicide: Life on the Street, with Andre Braugher as Detective Frank Pembleton. The episode, entitled "Blood Ties," was actually a three-episode arc that opened season 6. Jones plays a wealthy philanthropist whose Haitian employee is murdered, and the police have to carefully navigate racial tensions and class privilege. 

1997, as Norman Royster in the television series Frasier, with Kelsey Grammer as the title character. In typical Frasier fashion, the "punny" episode title is "Roz's Krantz and Gouldenstein Are Dead." Jones won a Primetime Emmy for this guest role as a blind nursing home resident. 

1997, as Archibald Thacker in What the Deaf Man Heard, a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie starring Matthew Modine as a child who pretends to be deaf and mute after believing himself to have been abandoned by his mother (in reality, she was murdered at a rest stop while he was sleeping on the bus while they were moving to a new city), a ruse he continues into adulthood, leading him to be privy to all kinds of small-town secrets. Jones plays a junk dealer who pretends to be poor and uneducated, although he graduated from Harvard and makes money running moonshine. 

1999, as Dr. Blakely in the made-for-TV-movie Summer's End, with Wendy Crewson as Virginia Baldwin. Jones plays a doctor who befriends a young boy whose father recently died, and who has to deal with prejudice and racism. This performance earned Jones a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special. 

1999, on Late Night with David Letterman, narrating the Top Ten List for New Year's Eve, entitled "Top Ten Effects of Y2K." Entering to a jazzy version of the Star Wars theme song, Jones maintained a solemn, dignified delivery throughout, from #10 ("Stuff's gonna 'splode") through #1 ("Despite assurances from high-ranking officials that it could not happen, defeating decades of scientific wisdom, flying in the face of smug predictions by so-called 'experts,' Kraft macaroni and cheese will become even cheesier"). 

2001, on Late Night with David Letterman. Jones returned to again deliver Dave's Top Ten List, which was "The Top Ten Things That Sound Cool When Spoken By James Earl Jones." Jones again maintained a stone-faced expression throughout, while reciting quotes such as, "J-Lo in the house," "And the Academy Award for Best Pictures Goes To...Dude, Where's My Car," and closing with Number 1, "Whazzzzzzzuuuuuuuuppppp?", complete with sticking out his tongue.  

2002, as a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, with co-recipients Paul Simon and Chita Rivera, First Lady Laura Bush, and President George W. Bush. 

2002, audio recording of the King James version of The New Testament of the Bible. Jones was basically the voice of God, which seems appropriate somehow. 

2003, as himself in an episode of the sitcom Will and Grace, with Sean Hayes as Jack and Emily Rutherford as Joanne. In the episode, entitled "Me & Mr. Jones," Jack gets cast in a show with Jones (as himself). The director is taken with Jack's delivery of his single line and praises him while denigrating Jones' performance, so Jones sits in on one of Jack's acting classes and Jack hilariously teaches him to speak in a high voice, "like a man."  The "Jimmy Choos" exchange is one of the funniest bits on television since The Carol Burnett Show. 

2003, Verizon ad. Continuing his trend as a communications pitchman, Jones donned cool sunglasses and shiny black patent leather loafers and grooved to the tune, "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" while touting Verizon's new unlimited calling plan. 

2004, as Will Cleveland in the television series Everwood, a recurring role for which he received an Emmy nomination as a guest actor. Cleveland was a coal miner caught in a mine collapse, who is also a jazz pianist. He becomes a mentor to the son of the doctor who helped him. 

2005, as Norman Thayer in On Golden Pond at the Cort Theater, Broadway, for which he received a Tony Award nomination. The Cort Theater was renamed the James Earl Jones Theater in his honor in 2022. Jones had made his Broadway debut in Sunrise at Campobello at the theatre in 1958. 

2008, as Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Broadhurst Theater, Broadway, with Terrence Howard as Brick. The all-black revival cast included Phylicia Rashad as Big Mama and Anika Noni Rose as Maggie. 

2009, as President Dibala in an episode of the television series House, with Jesse Spencer as Dr. Chase. Dibala is a bloodthirsty dictator and Chase struggles with the ethics of saving the life of someone who is likely to take many other lives.  

2010, as a guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, with Aaron Neville. Jones read the famous poem, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," with Neville interspersing lines sung in his distinctive falsetto. 

2011, as Hoke in Driving Miss Daisy at Wyndham's Theatre in London, with Vanessa Redgrave as the title character. 

2012, as Arthur Hockstader in Gore Vidal's The Best Man at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater, Broadway, with John Laroquette as William Russell. Jones received a Tony nomination for his role an outgoing US President giving advice to the two men vying for the nomination to be his successor. 

2012, receiving an honorary Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement for “his legacy of consistent excellence and uncommon versatility." 

2013, as Hoke in Driving Miss Daisy in Melbourne, Australia, this time with Angela Lansbury in the title role. The stage production was filmed and broadcast in movie theaters in the US and Canada in 2014.

2013, as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing at the Old Vic in London, with Vanessa Redgrave as Beatrice. 

2013, Sprint ad series with Malcolm McDowell. This two dramatic heavyweights, dressed in impeccable classic tuxedos, recreating mundane phone calls, such as a chat between two teenage girls featuring expressions such as "total Hottie McHotterson" and "totes magotes" is beyond hilarious. 

2014, as himself in an episode of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory, with Carrie Fisher and Jim Parsons.  The best scenes in this appearance include Parsons' Sheldon approaching Jones, expecting to be rebuffed when Jones gruffly asks him if he likes Star Wars, but them delightedly admits, "I like Star Wars, too!" and the scene depicted above, where Jones takes Sheldon to play a prank on Carrie Fisher. Interestingly, Jones had never met Fisher in person before filming this episode, despite their shared work in the Star Wars movies. 

2015, as Martin Vanderhof in You Can't Take It With You at the Longacre Theatre, Broadway, with Mark Linn-Baker as Paul, Patrick Kerr as Mr. DePinna, Kristine Nielsen as Penelope, and Julie Halston as Gay. Jones was said to have thoroughly enjoyed getting to perform in a stage comedy. 

2015, as Weller Martin in The Gin Game at the John Golden Theater, Broadway, with Cicely Tyson as Fonsia Dorsey. The production was a lovely frame for Jones and Tyson's 50-plus-year stage careers, having worked together in off-Broadway productions of both Moon on a Rainbow Shawl and The Blacks very early in their careers, with this production turning out to be the final Broadway appearance of each. 

in 2017, Jones was honored with a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. 

What's your favorite James Earl Jones role or film?