BREAKING: James Earl Jones passes away at 93

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Actor James Earl Jones, who famously voiced "Star Wars" villain Darth Vader and Mufasa in "The Lion King," has passed away.

Deadline and Variety reported that the 93-year-old died this morning at his home in Dutchess County, New York.

His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home. The cause was not immediately clear.

James Earl Jones' biography and effort to overcome stutter
Jones was born by the light of an oil lamp in a shack in Arkabutla, Mississippi, on Jan. 17, 1931. His father, Robert Earl Jones, had deserted his wife before the baby's arrival to pursue life as a boxer and, later, an actor.

When Jones was 6, his mother took him to her parents' farm near Manistee, Michigan. His grandparents adopted the boy and raised him.

"A world ended for me, the safe world of childhood," Jones wrote in his autobiography, "Voices and Silences." "The move from Mississippi to Michigan was supposed to be a glorious event. For me it was a heartbreak, and not long after, I began to stutter."

"As a preacher, as a scholar, you cannot change their mind. But you can change the way they feel-" James Earl Jones

Too embarrassed to speak, he remained virtually mute for years, communicating with teachers and fellow students with handwritten notes. A sympathetic high school teacher, Donald Crouch, learned that the boy wrote poetry, and demanded that Jones read one of his poems aloud in class. He did so faultlessly.

Teacher and student worked together to restore the boy’s normal speech. "I could not get enough of speaking, debating, orating — acting," he recalled in his book.

How James Earl Jones got his start at acting

At the University of Michigan, he failed a pre-med exam and switched to drama, also playing four seasons of basketball. He served in the Army from 1953 to 1955.

In New York, he moved in with his father and enrolled with the American Theater Wing program for young actors. Father and son waxed floors to support themselves while looking for acting jobs.

True stardom came suddenly in 1970 with "The Great White Hope." Howard Sackler’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play depicted the struggles of Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight boxing champion, amid the racism of early 20th-century America. In 1972, Jones repeated his role in the movie version and was nominated for an Academy Award as best actor.
The Emmy, Tony, and Honorary Oscar winner has voiced the Star Wars character since its inception in 1977 and most recently starred as Darth Vader in the new Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi series.