James Earl Jones passed away yesterday aged 93
James Earl Jones, the voice of iconic Star Wars villain Darth Vader, has sadly died at the age of 93.
His agent confirmed that he passed away yesterday morning (9 September) at his New York home, and tributes have been pouring in from all over the place including a particularly touching one from Mark Hamill.
The legendary performer’s final screen credit was for providing the voice of Darth Vader in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, though he had taken steps to ensure that if they want to use his voice for Vader then they can.
He officially retired from the role in September 2022 following the release of Obi-Wan Kenobi, though according to Vanity Fair the Vader voice you hear in that show is the work of Ukrainian company Respeecher.
James Earl Jones acted as a ‘benevolent godfather’ to guide the recreation of his sonorous speaking voice, but in his final credit for the Star Wars saga his voice was recreated with the help of technology.
James Earl Jones has sadly died aged 93 (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
Should Star Wars ever feel compelled to bring back Darth Vader at some point, and you expect that they likely will do, they will be able to use his voice again and again.
That’s because Jones signed off on his voice being recreated through AI for Darth Vader’s performances, meaning audiences may continue to hear it throughout the years.
Essentially, should Star Wars wish to use James Earl Jones’ voice again for Darth Vader then they can.
It’s certainly not the first time Star Wars has used technology to recreate the likeness of a late performer.
In the 2016 movie Rogue One the part of Tarkin was played by Guy Henry, but his face was digitally altered to look like the late Peter Cushing, while in the same film Carrie Fisher’s younger likeness was superimposed over the face of Ingvild Deila to play Princess Leia.
If Star Wars wishes to trot Darth Vader out again they’re allowed to use AI to recreate James Earl Jones’ voice (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Back in the days of the original Star Wars trilogy the man in the suit was David Prowse, who older Brits might also remember as the Green Cross Man.
His voice wasn’t quite right for the imposing Sith Lord, so James Earl Jones provided the iconic voice of Darth Vader and was sometimes working off a different script to Prowse.
During filming for The Empire Strikes Back to keep the revelation that Darth Vader was Luke’s father a secret only a handful of people knew the truth and a different line was said on set, with the big ‘I am your father’ reveal being dubbed in later.
Prowse didn’t actually know what the true line was until he got to see the movie after it was completed.
When Vader’s mask comes off so that Vader can look upon his son with his own eyes it was actor Sebastian Shaw who played that role.
Since then there have been others who have inhabited the suit on screen and provided the voice in various things like video games, but the voice in the movies has always been James Earl Jones.
Mark Hamill posts perfect two-word tribute to James Earl Jones as Star Wars co-star dies aged 93
He kept it short and sweet for the legendary James Earl Jones
The sad passing of the legendary James Earl Jones has resulted in tributes pouring in from all over the world of showbiz.
The 93-year-old’s agent confirmed that he died yesterday morning (9 September) at his home in New York.
The beloved actor passed away at age 93. (Sylvain Gaboury via Getty Images)
He was one of the few performers to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony throughout an illustrious career and is perhaps best known as being the voices of Mufasa in The Lion King and Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise.
It was James Earl Jones who delivered the iconic line, ‘I am your father’ to Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker, and Hamill posted the perfect two-word tribute on social media in the wake of the sad news of the 93-year-old’s death.
Hamill simply wrote ‘RIP dad’ followed by the broken heart emoji as he quoted the announcement of the death.
Throughout his time on social media Hamill has often referred to James Earl Jones as ‘dad’, including in a number of birthday wishes.
It’s an honour he gave to the various performers who have also played a part in portraying Darth Vader over the years, including his physical actor David Prowse, his unmasked performer Sebastian Shaw, stunt double Bob Anderson, and, of course, his younger iterations Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen.
For a lot of fans, this is the tribute that has been the most heart-wrenching of all, as one much beloved icon of our childhoods paid tribute to another.
It’s a sad reminder that none of us are getting any younger, and that as time passes the lights that illuminated our days gone by are starting to go out.
While he was known as the voice of Darth Vader, many will have seen James Earl Jones in front of the camera in the likes of Field of Dreams, Coming to America and Conan the Barbarian.
It’s by no means the first time Hamill has called James Earl Jones ‘dad’. (Twitter/@MarkHamill)
In later years, viewers of The Big Bang Theory got to see him make a guest appearance as himself, putting his sonorous voice to good use by declaring he liked Star Wars and playing a prank on co-star Carrie Fisher, who had played Princess Leia.
Hamill has also appeared in the show, where he appeared to officiate a wedding between two of the main characters.
As news of James Earl Jones’ was announced last night there will be many more waking up to the sad news of his passing, and one can expect many more tributes to come in to a man who put his talents to such good use.
