James Earl Jones
Department: Acting
Biography
James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor. He was described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances on stage and screen, and "one of the greatest actors in American history". Over his career, he received three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1985. He was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1992, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2009 and the Honorary Academy Award in 2011. His deep voice has been praised as a "stirring basso profondo that has lent gravel and gravitas" to his projects.
Known For
Star Wars
1977
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
1964
Sommersby
1993
The Hunt for Red October
1990
Sneakers
1992
Field of Dreams
1989
Return of the Jedi
1983
The Empire Strikes Back
1980
Dreamrider
1993
Amy and the Angel
1982
Earth
2007
Finder's Fee
2001
By Dawn's Early Light
1990
The Meteor Man
1993
The Sandlot
1993
Excessive Force
1993
Matewan
1987
Disney's American Legends
2001
Three Fugitives
1989
Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey
2010
The Lion King
1994
Soul Man
1986
Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold
1986
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
1998
Clear and Present Danger
1994
Coming to America
1988
Conan the Barbarian
1982
Star Wars: The Magic & the Mystery
1997
The Flight of Dragons
1982
Patriot Games
1992
Cry, the Beloved Country
1995
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
2008
Africa: The Serengeti
1994
Gardens of Stone
1987
Gang Related
1997
Jack and the Beanstalk
2009
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings
1976
Swashbuckler
1976
The Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics
1994
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault
1996
A Family Thing
1996
A Piece of the Action
1977
Undercover Angel
1999
Scorchers
1991
Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night
1987
The Reading Room
2005
The Sandlot 2
2005
Nine Dog Christmas
2004
Grim Prairie Tales
1990
Clean Slate
1994
Fantasia 2000
2000
People: A Musical Celebration
1995
Timepiece
1996
Who's in Rabbit's House?
1995
Convicts
1991
Claudine
1974
Feast of All Saints
2001
Santa and Pete
1999
Deadly Hero
1975
The Last Remake of Beau Geste
1977
True Identity
1991
The Star Wars Holiday Special
1978
The River Niger
1976
On Broadway
2019
What the Deaf Man Heard
1997
The UFO Incident
1975
The Comedians
1967
Blood Tide
1982
The Space: Theatre of Survival
2019
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street
2021
The Ambulance
1990
Beauty and the Beast
1981
Summer's End
1999
11-22-63: The Day the Nation Cried
1989
The Making of 'Jurassic Park'
1995
My Little Girl
1986
Conan Unchained: The Making of 'Conan'
2000
End of the Road
1970
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn
2014
The Bushido Blade
1981
The Great Year
2003
Gangs: Turning the Corner
1994
A House Divided
1987
Black Indians: An American Story
2004
Joe Papp in Five Acts
2012
The Vegas Strip War
1984
The Cay
1974
The Vernon Johns Story
1994
The Man
1972
Gimme Shelter
2013
Best of the Best
1989
The Creation
1981
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
1995
The Great White Hope
1970
Waking Sleeping Beauty
2009
Looking for Richard
1996
Exorcist II: The Heretic
1977
Michael Jackson: Dangerous - The Short Films
1993
The Hunting of the Snark
1989
Blackfish
2013
Sports on the Silver Screen
1997
The Second Civil War
1997
Hitler's Forgotten Victims
1997
City Limits
1985
Driving Miss Daisy
2015
Bah, Humbug!: The Story of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'
1994
Percy & Thunder
1993
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
2005
Heat Wave
1990
Ivory Hunters
1990
The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror
2003
Jefferson in Paris
1995
The Greatest
1977
Martin Luther King, Jr.: Legacy of a Dream
1971
Our Friend, Martin
1999
Alone
1997
Stories to Remember: Noah's Ark
1989
Words from a Bear
2019
Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues
1988
Milius
2013
Star Wars Rebels: The Siege of Lothal
2015
Teach 109
1990
Lincoln
1992
The Annihilation of Fish
1999
Broadway: The Next Generation
—
Last Flight Out
1990
The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar
2016
God Bless You, Mr Rosewater
2016
The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story
1980
Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion
2014
Night of 100 Stars II
1985
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy
2004
Golden Book Video - Beauty and the Beast
1981
Muhammad Ali - Through The Eyes Of The World
2001
Butterfly in the Sky
2024
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
2015
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
1970
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
1994
Confessions: Two Faces of Evil
1994
Malcolm X
1972
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
2016
Terrorgram
1990
Beneath the Surface: The Making of 'The Hunt for Red October'
2003
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
2005
Afro Promo
1997
The Story of Star Wars
2004
Robots
2005
Muse of Fire
2013
The Lion King
2019
The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened
1977
Click
2006
Warning Shot
2018
The Making of Star Wars
1977
Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp
1986
King Lear
1974
The Lion Guard: Life In The Pride Lands
2017
Visitors from the Unknown
1991
The Lone Star Kid
1986
The Benchwarmers
2006
Judge Dredd
1995
On the Q.T.
1999
John, Paul, George and Ben
2007
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
2006
God's Trombones
1981
Hollywood's Greatest Villains
2005
Visual Pathfinders: Robert Abel & Associates
1985
Paul Robeson
1979
Coming 2 America
2021
Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage
2019
Casper: A Spirited Beginning
1997
No Fighting in the War Room Or: 'Dr Strangelove' and the Nuclear Threat
2004
Inside: 'Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'
2000
The Art of Stanley Kubrick: From Short Films to Strangelove
2000
There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace: Life in the Negro Baseball Leagues
1981
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
2019
Scary Movie 4
2006
The Me Nobody Knows
1980
Recess Christmas: Miracle On Third Street
2001
Searching for Orson
2006
Black Theatre: The Making of a Movement
1978
An Amazing Time: A Conversation About End of the Road
2012
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
1984
Hallelujah
1993
Fredericksburg: A Documentary Film
2002
Antietam: A Documentary Film
2000
Our Paul: Remembering Paul Robeson
2007
Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light
2000
The Making of the Lion King
1994
Portrait of Castro's Cuba
1991
Night of 100 Stars
1982
A Walking Tour of Sesame Street
1979
Primary Colors
1998
BET News & ET Present James Earl Jones: Life and Legacy
2024
Corwin
1996
When It Was a Game
1991
Moses
1985
Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable
1995
Good Luck
1997
Strange Septembers: The Hill Abduction & the Exeter Encounter
2011
The JFK Conspiracy
1992
L.A. Law
1986
Sesame Street
1969
The Simpsons
1989
Law & Order
1990
House
2004
Gabriel's Fire
1990
The One Show
2006
According to Jim
2001
Everwood
2002
Two and a Half Men
2003
Frasier
1993
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
1993
Stargate SG-1
1997
Will & Grace
1998
Homicide: Life on the Street
1993
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
Mathnet
1987
Mathnet
1987
East Side/West Side
1963
Under One Roof
1995
Vegetable Soup
1975
The Defenders
1961
Tarzan
1966
Roots: The Next Generations
1979
Paris
1979
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973
Jesus of Nazareth
1977
Dr. Kildare
1961
The Defenders
1961
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978
Me & Mom
1985
Pros and Cons
1991
Merlin
1998
The Big Bang Theory
2007
Obi-Wan Kenobi
2022
The Magic of David Copperfield
1978
Star Wars Rebels
2014
Long Ago and Far Away
1989
CBS Schoolbreak Special
1984
Faerie Tale Theatre
1982
Reading Rainbow
1983
Lamp Unto My Feet
1948
Signs and Wonders
1995
The Atlanta Child Murders
1985
Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones
1980
The Simpsons
1989
The Simpsons
1989
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
1995
The Movies That Made Us
2019
Black Omnibus
1973
Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories
1992
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
Touched by an Angel
1994
Great Performances
1971
3rd Rock from the Sun
1996
Highway to Heaven
1984
Dinah!
1974
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
Golden Globe Awards
1944
Mathnet
1987
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
Garfield and Friends
1988
Picket Fences
1992
Tony Awards
1956
Tony Awards
1956
Tony Awards
1956
Tony Awards
1956
Tony Awards
1956
Tony Awards
1956