Kevin Costner, Mark Hamill, Henry Winkler and others react to the passing of James Earl Jones

Jordan Hoffman
·4 min read
5

The resonant baritone of James Earl Jones – the Emmy Award-, Grammy Award-, and Tony Award-winning actor who also received an honorary Oscar, making him a non-competitive EGOT designee –  has gone silent. At age 93, the actor, best known for voicing the evil Darth Vader in the original “Star Wars” trilogy and later the regal Mufasa in “The Lion King,” began his career on stage, in productions of “Othello” and the boxing biography “The Great White Hope.” The latter won him his first of three Tonys, as well as an Academy Award nomination for the film version in 1970.

His other notable work over the years included “Dr. Strangelove,” “The Hunt for Red October” (and its sequels), “Conan the Barbarian,” John Sayles’s labor struggle drama “Matewan,” the Broadway production of August Wilson’s “Fences,” the uneasy racial comedy “Soul Man,” and the South Africa-set “Cry, the Beloved Country.” He was also a ubiquitous pitch man for Bell Atlantic and Verizon, and was a regular guest doing bits “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and let’s not forget the classic bumper “THIS is CNN.”  

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He received an Oscar trophy as a lifetime achievement in 2011, won two Primetime Emmys in 1991 (for “Heat Wave” and “Gabriel’s Fire”), and the Best Spoken Word Grammy in 1977 for a collection called “Great American Documents.” In addition to these laurels, he won the National Medal of Arts in 1992, a Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, and a Life Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2009, among others.

But perhaps the greatest honor in his life was the outpouring of affection his passing received on Monday. 

Oscar and Emmy-winner Kevin Costner, who worked with the actor in the hit “Field of Dreams,” wrote “That booming voice. That quiet strength. The kindness that he radiated. So much can be said about his legacy, so I’ll just say how thankful I am that part of it includes ‘Field of Dreams’.”

Mark Hamill, who sparred against the British bodybuilder David Prowse as Luke Skywalker during physical production, still left a heartfelt message, noting the passing of his “Star Wars” father.

Jones’s fellow voice actor from the galaxy far, far away, Anthony Daniels called him “the sweetest man who played the baddest,” then added, “Now, that’s acting.” 

From the other great sci-fi franchise, Star Trek, LeVar Burton wrote “there will never be another of his particular combination of graces.”

Wendell Pierce called the performer “a once-in-a-generation talent that has left an enormous legacy in American culture.”

Matthew Modine shared a photo he took of Jones from the production of the 1997 television film “What The Deaf Man Heard.” 

Henry Winkler called him “a good friend.”

Jennifer Tilly said he was “graceful, warm and kind.”

 

And even the Empire State Building paid respect to the great man. 

 

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