James Earl Jones, the voice of Mufasa in ‘Lion King,’ dies at 93

James Earl Jones, the Hollywood actor widely known as King Mufasa’s voice in Disney’s animated feature ‘The Lion King’, has passed away.

The 93-year-old TV and theater actor died on Monday at his home in Dutchess County, New York, surrounded by his family.

No cause of death was provided by his representative who broke the news.

Born on January 17, 1931, in Arkabutla, Mississippi, Jones started his acting career at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan.

In 1953, he was a stage carpenter, and between 1955 and 1957, he acted and was a stage manager. In his first acting season at the Ramsdell, he portrayed ‘Othello’.

He had an extensive career in film, television, and theater and started in movies by appearing in the 1964 political satire film ‘Dr. Strangelove’ as Lt. Lothar Zogg.

Jones rose to fame in 1970 with his performance as America’s first black heavyweight champion in ‘The Great White Hope’.

Among the myriad of box office hits he starred in included ‘Field of Dreams’ (1989), ‘Coming To America’ (1988), ‘Conan the Barbarian’ (1982), and ‘Star Wars’ where he was the supervillain Darth Vader.

His theater work included ‘Sunrise at Campobello‘ (1958–1959), ‘Danton’s Death’ (1965), ‘The Iceman Cometh’ (1973–1974), ‘Of Mice and Men’ (1974–1975), ‘Othello’ (1982), ‘On Golden Pond’ (2005), ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ (2008) and ‘You Can’t Take It with You’ (2014–2015).

For television, he featured as Woodrow Paris in the series ‘Paris’ between 1979 and 1980. He also voiced various characters on the animated series ‘The Simpsons’ in three separate seasons (1990, 1994, 1998).

He was nominated for four Tony Awards, and won two, in 1969 for playing boxer Jack Johnson in ‘The Great White Hope’ and in 1987 for originating the role of Troy Maxson in August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama ‘Fences’. He also received a lifetime achievement Tony Award in 2017.

He was nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards, winning twice in 1991. He secured a Kennedy Center Honour in 2002, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2009, and an honorary Oscar in 2011.  His Grammy Award in 1977 for spoken word album made him one of the few actors to receive an EGOT.

Jones was married twice; the first to Julienne Marie, the actor and singer, between 1968 and 1972.

He also tied the knot with the actor Celia Hart in 1982. The union would produce a son, Flynn, the same year. It lasted until Hart’s death in 2016.