Biography of James Earl Jones

Stage, film, and television actor, born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, USA. The son of an ex-prizefighter-actor, he attended the University of Michigan, and after Army service he studied acting in New York and made his Broadway debut (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 includes lending his distinctive resonant voiceover to the character of Darth Vader in Star Wars (1977, 1980, 1983).