return to table of content

James Earl Jones has died

OhMeadhbh
75 replies
20h26m

I know everyone is talking about how he voiced Vader, but when I think of him, I think of Strangelove and Hunt for Red October. I didn't spend a lot of time in the fleet, but what I did was rather boring and/or annoying; the idea that something exciting would happen in the CIC is probably why I often think of the line "Now, understand, Commander, that torpedo did not self-destruct. You heard it hit the hull. And I was never here."

ChrisMarshallNY
18 replies
20h3m

I think of Conan, and Coming to America.

I was told by an industry insider (taken at face value), that he almost never turned down a part, which drove his agent nuts. That's why he was in these kind of oddball movies. I suspect that Nicholas Cage is similar.

hinkley
9 replies
19h9m

Ah, the 'working actor'. Gary Oldman (who also calls himself a working actor) kinda tanked his career for a while by getting typecast as a villain. Playing Sirius Black was basically autobiographical, and kind of got him unstuck.

ChrisMarshallNY
5 replies
17h34m

Gary Oldman is one of the best actors I've had the privilege of seeing.

Consider that Mr. Zorg, Winston Churchill, and George Smiley, are played by the same person, is amazing.

hinkley
2 replies
15h45m

Rosencrantz and Stansfield made him my favorite actor for the first decade of my adulthood. Zorg is okay. That terrible Lost in Space movie lowered his trajectory for a while. He’s been hitting home runs a lot since.

But if you hear him in interviews he thinks of himself as a working actor. He’s doing the job. But the right people think he can do a good job so he’s getting better roles.

alexjplant
1 replies
12h20m

That terrible Lost in Space movie

I'll never defend "Lost in Space" as a cinematic tour-de-force in the traditional sense but I'll be damned if it isn't one of the most quintessentially-90s films ever made. It has Silicon Graphics logos and bubble-shaped silver electronics everywhere. William Hurt managed to find time to slip away from the "Dark City" set to make an appearance. Pre-Felicity Shagwell/post-Rollergirl Heather Graham fends off advances from Joey Tribbiani while the crazy guy from "Leon: The Professional" makes a bunch of bizarre wisecracking non-sequiturs. A brash Big beat remix of the original TV theme blares over the credits immediately following a fight involving a giant CGI (SGI?) spider.

I disliked it intensely as a kid but enjoy it a lot in retrospect because of my high-resolution nostalgia goggles.

ChrisMarshallNY
0 replies
8h15m

> high-resolution nostalgia goggles.

Mine work in reverse, I guess.

I loved Space: 1999, when it was still being released.

I had occasion to revisit a syndicated episode, awhile back.

I stopped it after ten minutes.

wyldfire
0 replies
15h47m

Jackson Lamb is the Mr. Hyde to Smiley's Dr. Jekyll. It's just fantastic to see Oldman in both roles. Lamb is just a riot.

glandium
0 replies
16h50m

as well as James Gordon, Norman Stansfield and Harry Truman.

nirav72
2 replies
17h4m

Gary Oldman is currently starring in this show on AppleTV called Slow Horses. Amazing actor.

okwhateverdude
0 replies
6h58m

He really disappears into whatever character he is playing. Truly one of the exceptional actors of our time. That show in particular highlights this very well.

michaelhoney
0 replies
9h11m

Excellent show, fourth season just started

jdougan
2 replies
18h42m

Michael Caine apparently is similar. I see no other reason why he would have done the (wonderful) movie "Water".

wbl
0 replies
16h28m

Don't forget Noises Off. Truly delightful farce, and his acting plus the physical comedy of the rest of the cast makes it happen.

ChrisMarshallNY
0 replies
4h37m

There’s his infamous quote about being in Jaws 3:

I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific.

mathgeek
1 replies
19h52m

I suspect that Nicholas Cage is similar.

Probably, although it’s also well documented that Cage took a lot of roles to pay off his extensive debts after blowing through nine digits of his wealth.

hinkley
0 replies
19h6m

Turns out real estate is what did him. And he refused to file for bankruptcy.

Given his behavior there for a while I was trying to do the math on how you blow through $65 million worth of... well, blow.

nonameiguess
0 replies
52m

My wife's cousin worked the case where they forced Nic Cage to give back the dinosaur skull he bought for a quarter mil at an illegal auction to the Mongolian government. He had to take every role ever offered to him because he made some amazingly stupid financial decisions.

cdchn
0 replies
15h22m

The "Riddle of Steel" scene is just phenomenal.

aidenn0
11 replies
20h3m

For me it's Sneakers "We are the US Government, we don't do that sort of thing"

iancmceachern
3 replies
19h53m

Love this movie, it really holds up too.

I live right near that plaza in SF where Sydney Poitier yells at Martin "its your Mother" with the Car phone in his hand.

Great movie

nocoiner
1 replies
18h5m

I love that movie too. It’s amazing how well it holds up for it being, in many ways, a tech-focused movie - I mean, yeah, the tech is very much dated and completely a product of its time, but it doesn’t look at all ridiculous. Undoubtedly probably helps that it was pre-WWW/popular internet.

sjburt
0 replies
15h59m

I think it helps that the technical concept that drove the main plot was a very real and still-present risk to public key encryption systems.

ManuelKiessling
0 replies
12h36m

Whenever the line „they don’t make them like this anymore“ comes up wrt movies, I think of „Sneakers“ and „The Hunt for Red October“.

mrcwinn
1 replies
17h12m

I can still hear it. Some voices are just available to you, forever.

"We'retheUS GOVERNment. We don't DO that SORT of THING."

What a loss. He is one of a kind.

geocrasher
1 replies
19h58m

I forgot he was in Sneakers! Fantastic movie.

beastman82
0 replies
19h52m

Free on YT right now

UberFly
1 replies
12h18m

Sneakers is climbing into cult classic year by year. What a great cast. Wow.

aidenn0
0 replies
2h48m

Yes the cast. Aside from James Earl Jones it had the following actors who at one point or another had Academy Award nominees (or won) for acting:

Robert Redford

Sidney Poitier

David Strathairn

River Phoenix

Ben Kingsley

Mary McDonnell

And In addition to those it had Dan Aykroyd and Stephen Toblowsky

hinkley
0 replies
19h11m

"... I'll see what I can do."

nnf
5 replies
20h0m

For me, it's Sandlot. Relatively small part, but it was impactful for me as a kid.

francisofascii
2 replies
19h43m

We finished watching Sandlot yesterday with my kids for the first time. And then to hear this today.

dylan604
1 replies
19h20m

The phrase "you're killing me Smalls" will be in your head forevvveerrr, at least, you should encourage its use by your kids.

vlachen
0 replies
17h4m

Foooooorreeeeeveeeeer...

SoftTalker
1 replies
15h26m

He was in Field of Dreams too, another baseball flick.

vertis
0 replies
10h50m

Every startup founders favourite movie.

imiric
3 replies
18h57m

To me he will always be Mufasa. Brilliant performance and perfect casting.

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom."

Still get shivers from that movie to this day. Nostalgia, sure, but it's truly a masterpiece.

R.I.P.

qup
2 replies
15h50m

Saw it in theaters as a kid. It was one of the best movie experiences of my life.

steve_adams_86
0 replies
15h26m

Man, what I’d do to have a theatre experience like that again.

I feel like I’ve already seen just about every movie I see these days. I watch them to just tune out occasionally, like a safer version of alcohol. I don’t watch them because it’ll be moving, insightful, exciting, etc. It’s just coarse stimulation.

I really miss movies that left me feeling like I had a significant experience. It happens occasionally, but I feel like it used to be more common. The lion king was amazing. The remake was a kick in the pants.

nonameiguess
0 replies
45m

My aunt used to take me and my sister to the El Capitan theatre to every big Disney tentpole that premiered there in the late 80s and early 90s. I think Lion King is probably still the best movie-going experience I have ever had and ever will have. It was the first one where I was a teenager and that was probably the end of my true childhood and when I started losing interest in stuff like that. I don't think any scene will ever again touch me like James Earl Jones voice booming from the clouds telling Simba to remember who he is. The swell of that Hans Zimmer score still brings tears to my eyes instantly every time I hear it.

iancmceachern
3 replies
19h54m

I think of "Field of Dreams" and Patriot Games, and of course vader

bovermyer
2 replies
17h44m

"Back! Back to the 60s!"

owlninja
1 replies
17h37m

People will come, Ray!

wyldfire
0 replies
15h43m

The memories will be so thick, they'll have to brush <<gestures>> them away from their faces.
ethbr1
3 replies
18h20m

Because HN skews younger, I expect there are some out there who haven't seen "The Vader Sessions" from the early YouTube era, in which James Earl Jones dialog from his other films was spliced into Star Wars Vader scenes. I think it's a testament to his range:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6A0rwG39Jzk

xxandroxygen
0 replies
16h54m

I watch this at least once a year, it never gets old

steve_adams_86
0 replies
15h26m

That’s right Sally!

The editing choices still seem really, really good after all these years. The radio scene is hilarious.

Edit: thanks for linking this and bringing back so many good memories.

acheron
0 replies
15h14m

I'm plenty old enough but somehow have never seen or heard of this. Fantastic.

bitwize
3 replies
19h17m

He was also Police Chief Thad Green in the Mathnet segments of Square One TV. He only appeared a few times, but was unmistakable when he did. He also participated in early test footage for what would become Sesame Street. Film footage of him reciting the alphabet, in trademark James Earl Jones diction, was one of the things they used to research young children's response to educational programming.

gciguy
1 replies
19h1m

I loved Mathnet and Mathman segments. Still remember the episode where they figured out the hill a van drove up because of the tilt of the water in a glass.

sevensor
0 replies
17h40m

I remember that one! Goodness that was a long time ago.

GauntletWizard
0 replies
15h31m

I completely forgot about Mathnet for many years - I'm not sure where I even saw it; My family didn't even have a TV (and I was too young anyway) for it's run. It was a delight when I discovered that my fever dream of a dragnet parody was in fact real. Great show, very funny, and good education.

OhMeadhbh
3 replies
20h8m

Just read on his Wikipedia page that he made it through Ranger school in the Korean War era. That's an accomplishment. Several readers here will know that's not really an easy thing to do. Overcame stuttering as a kid. Went to Ranger school (as an African American in the 50s.) Performed Shakespeare and contemporary plays and worked in film. A true dude. Lifting one in his honor this evening (though I'm old enough that it has to be a non-alcoholic one.)

wut-wut
0 replies
18h34m

That's bad ass!

vertis
0 replies
10h55m

old enough <=> smart enough

fsckboy
0 replies
14h43m

wikipedia says "Jones was commissioned in mid-1953, after the Korean War's end, and reported to Fort Benning (now Fort Moore) to attend the Infantry Officers Basic Course. He attended Ranger School and received his Ranger Tab."

lagrange77
1 replies
19h23m

I will always think of him as King Jaffe Joffer, Ruler of Zamunda.

petcat
0 replies
18h41m

My son works?!

This one is my go-to. Also The Sandlot

jcastro
1 replies
20h15m

When Jack hands him the photos of Red October: "Jesus that's a big sucker."

cylinder714
0 replies
14h8m

"I told you to speak your mind, Jack, but Jesus!"

geocrasher
1 replies
20h0m

"I told you to speak your mind Jack, but Jesus!"

I also am one who thinks of The Hunt For Red October. You already listed the best quote in the movie from him, but the above also makes me giggle every time.

nocoiner
0 replies
18h2m

Also in that scene when he slightly moves his hand to get Jack to back off from interrogating the admiral about whether he’d ever met Ramius - just terrific non-verbal acting that speaks volumes.

themadturk
0 replies
19h33m

The first thing that comes up for me when I hear his name (after Star Wars) is Field of Dreams. He made me laugh out loud more than once in that, my favorite baseball movie.

spaceribs
0 replies
19h13m

"Long Ago and Far Away" for me.

somerandomqaguy
0 replies
18h59m

"You took an oath, if you recall, when you first came to work for me. And I don't mean to the National Security Advisor of the United States, I mean to his boss... and I don't mean the President. You gave your word to his boss: you gave your word to the people of the United States. Your word is who you are."

I doubt anyone could pull the gravitas that he brought to the role of Admiral Greer.

shagie
0 replies
18h56m

I believe the appropriate clip to watch is Lisa and Bleeding Gums Murphy - https://youtu.be/PX05DJWNj3k

listless
0 replies
19h25m

I always think of Field of Dreams. He was incredible in that role. He holds that movie together.

ekianjo
0 replies
19h49m

he was excellent in Conan too.

devoutsalsa
0 replies
9h44m

I liked him as Admiral Greer in the Jack Ryan movies (The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, Clear And Present Danger).

bambax
0 replies
15h55m

In Clear and Present Danger (1994), James Earl Jones (as Admiral Greer) dies in the middle of the movie. For some reason, and maybe because I have a hard time telling the difference between art and reality, I was fairly certain, for a long time, that the actor himself had died, and I would be regularly surprised when he would appear in new movies.

He was a fine actor, and a fine man.

az226
0 replies
16h19m

For me it’s Coming to America, the King of Zamunda.

acomjean
0 replies
19h3m

Reading Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" on the Simpsons. It was shortened but great...

Zancarius
0 replies
20h5m

Hunt for Red October for me also!

runevault
8 replies
20h8m

Such an iconic voice. And the fact he got to put voice to so many iconic lines that are hard to imagine coming from anyone else. His speech in Field of Dreams, obviously Vader's "I am your father". Basically all of his lines as Mufasa in Lion King.

I just can't think of any voice from the newer generations of actors/VAs that stands up to what he brought. And while his voice was incredible, he clearly mastered it and gave his lines the maximum impact they could have beyond the simple utterance.

packetslave
4 replies
18h47m

If we're purely talking voice actors, there are SO many incredible talents to choose from: Mark Hamill as The Joker for sure, Kevin Conroy as Batman, Tara Strong as dozens of characters, etc.

runevault
1 replies
18h46m

Hamill is a damned good voice actor, and I've really liked him in various things like as the Joker or even as the Watcher in Darksiders 1.

I wouldn't put him anywhere near the level of James Earl Jones.

costigan
0 replies
15h49m

I don't know. Mark Hamill is a voice acting chameleon. James Earl Jones was himself, which was great for many roles and impossible to improve upon for some. Their strengths lie on different axes.

runevault
0 replies
17h53m

Clancy is an incredible actor in his own right both voice and general. I'll always have a soft spot for him as Kurgan in the first Highlander movie. He was so... unsettling.

tanseydavid
1 replies
19h59m

I agree completely. JEJ is an impossible act to follow.

My opinion is that Dennis Haybert has surely 'risen to the occasion' quite well at the very least.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Haysbert

runevault
0 replies
19h35m

I'm not just talking still alive, I mean the younger generation. Like Morgan Freeman is also an iconic all-time voice. Is there even any actor in their 40s let alone 30s or 20s who have such an iconic voice dropping such powerful monologues?

Dracophoenix
0 replies
15h50m

At a quarter of a century younger, Keith David has, for decades, expertly conveyed the weight of his characters' words in a wide range of genres.

I just can't think of any voice from the newer generations of actors/VAs that stands up to what he brought.

Off the top of my head, there's Peter Cullen, Jeff Bennet, Frank Welker, Tim Curry, Tom Kane (prior to his stroke), Phil Lamarr, Mark Hamill, Clancy Brown, and John DiMaggio.

david-gpu
8 replies
20h43m

For me he will always be Thulsa Doom from Conan the Barbarian. You need to watch that movie if you haven't already.

cdchn
0 replies
12h53m

Contemplate this on the Tree of Woe.

dxbydt
1 replies
20h36m

Saw that movie in the theater in my early teens. When he turns into a snake - watching that on a 30 feet high screen from the front row - scarred me for life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF0Z5g0Wjuk

konfusinomicon
0 replies
19h39m

its my favorite movie of all time. the soundtrack alone is worth the price of admission. its got comedy, drama, love, hate, lust, fear, revenge, and all the other feelings a movie can envoke. hey...black lotus, stygian, the best...this better not be haga...I would sell Haga to a slayer such as you?

alexjplant
0 replies
12h36m

I saw "Conan" a year or two after I first saw him in "The Sandlot" and lost it when I realized that the same guy that was doing battle with The Terminator was responsible for saving Smalls from a lifetime of being grounded... his voice made him instantly recognizable in spite of the wig and crazy costumes he wore in the former. RIP.

agumonkey
0 replies
14h54m

That movies exudes a soft mysticism that I find as rare as confusing.

_the_inflator
0 replies
20h10m

I totally agree. He played a sadist, and the irony of this movie is that he rarely makes use of what people admire the most: his infamous voice. True uber-alpha in this movie, fantastic performance.

RIP!

woodruffw
7 replies
20h41m

A slightly less cliche fact about James Earl Jones: his film debut was Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, where he plays the bombardier on the B-52[1].

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSbPqin3L6E

wisty
4 replies
19h47m

The famous B52 cockpit - From wikipedia:

Lacking cooperation from the Pentagon in the making of the film, the set designers reconstructed the aircraft cockpit to the best of their ability by comparing the cockpit of a B-29 Superfortress and a single photograph of the cockpit of a B-52 and relating this to the geometry of the B-52's fuselage. The B-52 was state-of-the-art in the 1960s, and its cockpit was off-limits to the film crew. When some United States Air Force personnel were invited to view the reconstructed B-52 cockpit, they said that "it was absolutely correct, even to the little black box which was the CRM."[17] It was so accurate that Kubrick was concerned about whether Adam's team had carried out all its research legally.[17]

Also IIRC it was the inspiration for the Situation Room. The President asked why Kubric could get a big room with all the screens to deal with a crisis, and he didn't have one.

UniverseHacker
1 replies
19h22m

“Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!”

nmg
0 replies
18h9m

"He'll see everything! ... He'll see the big board!"

sparky_z
0 replies
4h19m

Source for that last fact? I was curious which president, so I looked it up and the creation of the Situation Room was ordered by JFK who was assassinated before the movie was even released.

myrmidon
0 replies
7h25m

Conditional support for movie production (by the US military) is highly unethical in my view (even though, pragmatically speaking, it is likely a "good" investment of tax dollars...).

serf
0 replies
20h15m

"Hey, what about Major Kong?"

a great movie with absolutely wholly innocent characters unknowingly contributing their own parts to the apocalypse -- I think about that a lot conceptually.

Even the motivations of Gen. Ripper are 'innocent' -- he just happens to have become a delusional psychotic.

excalibur
0 replies
20h39m

Just watched that for the first time like a week ago. Totally surreal seeing him as a young unknown actor in a smaller role.

andrewstuart
7 replies
20h17m

Star Wars was relentlessly changed by George Lucas - for the worse in my opinion.

Star Wars should have been changed to give James Earl Jones starring billing, instead of no credit at all.

mgiampapa
4 replies
20h13m

That was his choice out of respect for Prowse.

andrewstuart
1 replies
19h13m

"Respect for Prowse" doesn't override that JEJ should have had star credits.

Ridiculous.

mgiampapa
0 replies
15h19m

James Earle Jones declined credit. It was his respect for Prowse. What world do you live in to say that the actor doesn't get to have a say in how he is billed?

hermitcrab
0 replies
19h23m

Star Wars would have been a very different film it is had been voiced by Prowse, with his strong West Country accent.

"Luke, Oi am yer faaarther".

andrewstuart
0 replies
19h33m

That Star Wars factoid does not negate the fact it was wrong.

samatman
1 replies
18h54m

"Voice of Darth Vader" is listed directly under "Darth Vader" in the credits of Star Wars.

slavik81
0 replies
15h28m

The credits were changed for the special editions. He is not in the 'starring' section, but they did list him properly in the cast. https://youtu.be/sIPNormrPwg?t=2m30s

crtified
4 replies
19h56m

James narrating Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven in the very first Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode (2x03), to the backdrop of the quirky and artistic early-Simpsons animation, was such a wonderful union of beautiful cross-generational zeitgeist.

svat
0 replies
17h41m

Here's a different reading by him of The Raven (not the one from The Simpsons): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXU3RfB7308 — he chooses to almost ignore the meaning and stick to a recitation, which is great: his voice perfectly brings out the poem's cadence and assonance.

Other readings of The Raven, for comparison: Christopher Walken [1], Vincent Price [2], Christopher Lee (build-up in intensity, unfortunately some background music) [3], Basil Rathbone (the opposite of James Earl Jones: in places almost like prose) [4]

[1]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wj1DRQs9AQ

[2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuGZ_wp_i9w

[3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BefliMlEzZ8

[4]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jOS2FlLgic

mjklin
0 replies
15h45m

He also played the alien who prepared the “how to cook for forty humans” cookbook on Kang and Kodos’s ship

lIl-IIIl
0 replies
10h58m

My Simpsons memory of him is him coming up from the clouds as Mustafa, Darth Vader, and himself saying "This is CNN". But TIL it wasn't him but Harry Shearer doing an impression.

https://youtu.be/gc25oAJrKbM?si=nkcdAukLnfbXmkuN

danparsonson
0 replies
19h5m

And still, for me, the best reading of that! There are many renditions out there by some very accomplished actors but I've never heard or seen a better one.

liquorist
3 replies
20h7m

He’ll always be the GDI’s General Solomon from Tiberian Sun in my mind.

kevinventullo
1 replies
16h3m

Yes! I remember the cutscenes being pretty campy, but he elevated them.

Arrath
0 replies
12h50m

I loved that DARTH FREAKIN VADER was the General in my campy game FMV cutscenes.

slavik81
0 replies
15h43m

Tiberian Sun was the first computer game I owned, and his performance was practically the first thing I saw when I finished installing it. At the time, I didn't recognize him, despite being a huge Star Wars fan. https://youtu.be/LT6Y0EIMRiI

christophilus
3 replies
19h39m

I have a vague memory of him reading books on some PBS show in the 80s. Am I misremembering this? I can’t find it in his filmography, though it may have been Fairytale Theater.

spaceribs
1 replies
19h12m

This was a show called "Long Ago and Far Away"

christophilus
0 replies
17h55m

Yes! That’s it.

hammock
0 replies
19h34m

The fourth episode in the premiere season (1983) of PBS's Reading Rainbow featured a story narrated by James Earl Jones.

The video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QN9npF9A3M

Bluestein
2 replies
18h41m

James Earl Jones read the Bible as an audio book. Who - other than him - could pull such a feat?

indigo0086
1 replies
5h48m

I recently heard someone at church who listened to his audio bible, I thought that's such a great voice for it.

Bluestein
0 replies
5h46m

Gravitas itself, personified.-

xavdid
1 replies
19h37m

He's done a lot of great work. Selfishly, one of my favorites is narrating the University of Michigan (his alma mater) football hype videos and stadium announcements. Always felt unique and fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1PFH3w_b8g

holman
0 replies
17h36m

When this comes on in the Big House you immediately feel like you want to run through a brick wall for the team.

kreelman
1 replies
18h56m

I wonder if James Earl Jones passing deserves a black banner on Hacker News...? He certainly gave life to many characters loved on Hacker News..

krapp
0 replies
18h27m

Probably not unless he wrote a particularly relevant compiler in the 1970s, or something.

iambateman
1 replies
17h38m

You know he was good when the Lion King remake had a chance to recast the entire movie with actors like Beyoncé and Donald Glover and the casting director was like “well obviously we aren’t changing Mufasa.”

cyode
0 replies
17h8m

Good on that casting director.

Bad on Disney for subsequently greenlighting Mufasa: The Lion King (2024).

howard941
1 replies
20h14m

To me he'll always be the "This is CNN" voice

buttocks
0 replies
20h10m

Or “Bell Atlantic”

coding123
1 replies
19h21m

He was 93, and of course this kind of thing is expected and we shouldn't be surprised by news like this, but somehow this news hit hard. I guess after 40, when your own personal heroes pass, part of you dies with them.

gremlinsinc
0 replies
11h47m

I'm still reeling over Chester Bennington... (I'm 44)

dang
0 replies
20h30m

Thanks! The current article seems more substantive so maybe we'll merge those comments hither.

0xcde4c3db
1 replies
18h54m

I recommend his reading of Frederick Douglass's "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" [1]. The combination of Jones's voice and Douglass's incisive eloquence is really something special.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0baE_CtU08

marnett
0 replies
18h18m

Thanks for sharing. That was very moving.

zeristor
0 replies
21h10m

A lovely chap.

tomkarho
0 replies
12h37m

I find his lack of life disturbing.

thisisauserid
0 replies
17h33m

His genie in Shelly Duval's Fairy Tail Theater: Aladdin (directed by Tim Burton) was terrifying and brilliant!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=_hDTxK4xfCA

sys_64738
0 replies
20h6m

“By your command.”

svat
0 replies
17h53m

Here he is in 2009, performing Shakespeare at the (Obama) "White House Evening of Poetry, Music and the Spoken Word": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJybA1emr_g (Othello's speech defending himself: [1])

(Incidentally, it was on the same occasion that Lin-Manuel Miranda first announced he was working on a hip-hop album about treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton, to some laughter, before performing a sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNFf7nMIGnE — the musical came out six years later.)

[1]: https://www.litcharts.com/shakescleare/shakespeare-translati....

schappim
0 replies
19h34m

Remember past kings live in the stars...

ruined
0 replies
15h47m

his lesser-known supporting role in the john sayles film 'matewan' is great, if anyone's looking for uncommon recs.

rasengan
0 replies
13h58m

I guess there's going to be a flood of JEJ AI.

peutetre
0 replies
15h20m

I've searched my feelings and they're all sad. :(

orionblastar
0 replies
20h49m

At a young age, he had a stutter and learned to speak poems to get better at talking. He had the voice of God. RIP.

nateburke
0 replies
17h9m

RIP Chief Green, Terrence Mann.... I loved everything he did.

mindcrime
0 replies
19h24m

Well, let's say my name is Mr. Abbott

R.I.P. Mr Abbott.

mhh__
0 replies
16h58m

I saw Dr strangelove on 35mm recently (the film stock was completely fucked but still what a treat). Great voice.

masfoobar
0 replies
11h28m

Very sad news. Very good actor - far beyond than just the voice of Vader. I would not be surprised he is a good bloke behind the camera, and sadly missed by those close to him.

joshcsimmons
0 replies
1h15m

Is this tech news?

gexla
0 replies
19h0m

Damn, RIP the voice of my childhood.

Who else do we have remaining? Morgan Freeman for one.

Maybe Eddie Murphy on the comedy side.

geenkeuse
0 replies
19h40m

Cry The Beloved Country, based on the book by beloved South African writer Alan Paton.

They did justice to the book. He was spectacular in his portrayal.

As a South African it resonates deeply with me and is more relevant now, than ever before.

geenkeuse
0 replies
19h42m

As a South African, Cry The Beloved Country resonates deeply with me. Thank you, sir, for all that you gave.

Read the book by Alan Paton, and you may go down a rabbithole.

They did the story justice with that movie.

coolio1232
0 replies
14h10m

I haven't seen shocks like this since taco night at James Earl Jones' house.

coldcode
0 replies
17h23m

My favorite story from the CB radio era:

“I did that once when I was traveling cross-country. I used Darth as my handle on the CB radio. The truck drivers would really freak out — for them, it was Darth Vader. I had to stop doing that,” Jones told the Times magazine.

clarkmoody
0 replies
19h50m

Rest in peace to a true legend.

cheschire
0 replies
19h52m

Nooooooooo!

brookst
0 replies
19h16m

Lesser known role: he voiced Mara on the Disney Indiana Jones ride.

breck
0 replies
17h51m

“The secret is never forgetting that you’re a journeyman actor and that nothing is your final thing, nothing is your greatest thing, nothing is your worst thing,” Jones said. “I still consider myself a novice.”

Beautiful advice.

One of my favorite scenes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SB16il97yw&t=16s

bitwize
0 replies
20h40m

He will be looking down at us from the stars, along with the other great kings of the past.

agumonkey
0 replies
14h57m

Funny how voices are so impactful.

RIP

WalterBright
0 replies
19h2m

"Backup circuits are switched on. Still negative function"

UberFly
0 replies
12h23m

I saw him close up filming "Three Fugitives" with Martin Short in Tacoma, WA on a random summer day in 1988. He grinned and gave a peace sign to my friends and I. I don't know if they make them like him any more.

Rediscover
0 replies
14h11m

James Earl Jones did the intro for the book "Poetry [to read] Out Loud." His voice is very present in those written words. Great stuff!

HaZeust
0 replies
19h5m

Damn, it's a sad day for voice acting. Mufasa, Vader, Strangelove - his voice demanded attention and authority. May he rest well

ChrisArchitect
0 replies
17h50m

"round-abound" TomTom GPS ad!

CapricornNoble
0 replies
19h42m

For a while I had "Infidel defilers...they shall all drown in lakes of blood." as my ringtone.

"What is steel compared to the hand that wields it?"

Such an accomplished and memorable individual. RIP.

23B1
0 replies
18h42m

and now he shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine