James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor who in a career of more than 50 years has become known as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" and "one of the greatest actors in American history." Since his Broadway debut in 1957, Jones has won many awards, including a Tony Award and Golden Globe Award for his role in The Great White Hope. Jones has won three Emmy Awards, including two in the same year in 1991, and he also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role in the film version of The Great White Hope. He is also known for his voice acting, most notably as Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise as well as in many other film, stage, and television roles.
As a child Jones overcame a stutter that lasted for several years. A pre-med major in college, he went on to serve as a U.S. Army Ranger during the Korean War, before dedicating his career to acting.
On November 12, 2011, he received an Honorary Academy Award.
Read more about James Earl Jones: Personal Life, Awards, Filmography
Famous quotes containing the words james earl, james, earl and/or jones:
“I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times. This is something God recognizes I will do—and I have done it—and God forgives me for it.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“Mankind’s common instinct for reality ... has always held the world to be essentially a theatre for heroism. In heroism, we feel, life’s supreme mystery is hidden. We tolerate no one who has no capacity whatever for it in any direction. On the other hand, no matter what a man’s frailties otherwise may be, if he be willing to risk death, and still more if he suffer it heroically, in the service he has chosen, the fact consecrates him forever.”
—William James (1842–1910)
“Knowledge is a comfortable and necessary retreat and shelter for us in an advanced age; and if we do not plant it while young, it will give us no shade when we are old.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“Well, I’d certainly say she had marvelous judgment, Albert, if not particularly good taste.”
—L.Q. Jones [Justus Mcqueen] (b. 1936)