Jones, James Earl

Jones, James Earl

(1931–  ) stage/film/television actor; born in Arkabutla, Miss. Son of an ex-prizefighter-actor, he attended the University of Michigan, and after Army service, studied acting in New York, making his Broadway debut in 1957. After his first major role in The Great White Hope (1966), he went on to star in a wide variety of classic and contemporary plays. His varied film career included lending his distinctive resonant voice (only) to Darth Vader in Star Wars (1977).

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.