James Earl Jones

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.

Mufasa: The Lion King
2024
In Memory Of

Butterfly in the Sky
2024
Guest Narrator (archive footage)

BET News & ET Present James Earl Jones: Life and Legacy
2024
Self (archive footage)

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street
2021
Self (archive footage)

Coming 2 America
2021
King Jaffe Joffer

On Broadway
2019
Self (archive footage)

The Space: Theatre of Survival
2019
Narrator

Words from a Bear
2019
Self

Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage
2019
Self

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
2019
Darth Vader (voice)

Warning Shot
2018
Pendleton

Broadway: The Next Generation
2017
Self

The Lion Guard: Life In The Pride Lands
2017
Mufasa (voice)

The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar
2016
Mufasa (voice)

God Bless You, Mr Rosewater
2016
Kilgore Trout

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
2016
Darth Vader (voice)

Driving Miss Daisy
2015
Hoke Colburn

Star Wars Rebels: The Siege of Lothal
2015
Darth Vader (voice)

August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
2015
Self

The Angriest Man in Brooklyn
2014
Ruben

Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion
2014
Darth Vader (voice)

Gimme Shelter
2013
Frank McCarthy

Blackfish
2013
Self (archive footage)

Milius
2013
Self

Muse of Fire
2013
Self

Joe Papp in Five Acts
2012
Self

An Amazing Time: A Conversation About End of the Road
2012
Self

Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey
2010
Admiral (voice)

Jack and the Beanstalk
2009
The Giant (voice)

Waking Sleeping Beauty
2009
Self (archive footage)

Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
2008
Papa Jenkins

Earth
2007
Narrator (voice)

John, Paul, George and Ben
2007
Narrator

Click
2006
Narrator of Michael's Past (voice) (uncredited)

The Benchwarmers
2006
Darth Vader (voice)

The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
2006
Jack Jefferson (segment "The Great White Hope") / Troy Maxson (segment "Fences")

Scary Movie 4
2006
Narrator (uncredited)

Searching for Orson
2006
Self

The Reading Room
2005
William

The Sandlot 2
2005
Mr. Mertle

By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
2005
Narrator

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
2005
Darth Vader (voice - uncredited)

Robots
2005
Voice Box at Hardware Store (voice)

Hollywood's Greatest Villains
2005
Self

Nine Dog Christmas
2004
Storyteller (voice)

Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy
2004
Self

The Story of Star Wars
2004
Darth Vader (archive footage)

No Fighting in the War Room Or: 'Dr Strangelove' and the Nuclear Threat
2004
Self

The Great Year
2003
Narrator

The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror
2003
Maggie Simpson (voice)

Beneath the Surface: The Making of 'The Hunt for Red October'
2003
Self

Fredericksburg: A Documentary Film
2002
Narrator

Finder's Fee
2001
Avery Phillips

Disney's American Legends
2001
Narrator

Feast of All Saints
2001
Older Marcel

Muhammad Ali - Through The Eyes Of The World
2001
Self

Recess Christmas: Miracle On Third Street
2001
Mister (voice)

Fantasia 2000
2000
Self - Host

Summer's End
2000
Dr. William 'Bill' Blakely

Conan Unchained: The Making of 'Conan'
2000
Self

Inside: 'Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'
2000
Self - 'Lieutenant Lothar Zogg'

The Art of Stanley Kubrick: From Short Films to Strangelove
2000
Self

Antietam: A Documentary Film
2000
Narrator

Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light
2000

Undercover Angel
1999
The Judge

Santa and Pete
1999
James Earl Jones

Our Friend, Martin
1999
Daddy King (voice)

The Annihilation of Fish
1999
Fish

On the Q.T.
1999
Leo

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
1998
Mufasa (voice)

Primary Colors
1998
CNN Voiceover (voice)

Star Wars: The Magic & the Mystery
1997
Self

Gang Related
1997
Arthur Baylor

What the Deaf Man Heard
1997
Archibald Thacker

The Second Civil War
1997
Jim Kalla

Alone
1997
Grey

Afro Promo
1997
Self (archive footage)

Casper: A Spirited Beginning
1997
Kibosh (voice)

Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault
1996
Dr. McDuffie

A Family Thing
1996
Ray Murdock

Timepiece
1996
Lawrence

Looking for Richard
1996
Self - Interviewee

Cry, the Beloved Country
1995
Rev. Stephen Kumalo

People: A Musical Celebration
1995
The Storyteller (voice)

Who's in Rabbit's House?
1995
Narrator (voice)

The Making of 'Jurassic Park'
1995
Host

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
1995
Self

Jefferson in Paris
1995
Madison Hemings

Judge Dredd
1995
Narrator (uncredited)

The Lion King
1994
Mufasa (voice)

Clear and Present Danger
1994
Admiral James Greer

Africa: The Serengeti
1994
Narrator

The Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics
1994
Host

Clean Slate
1994
John Dolby

Gangs: Turning the Corner
1994
Self

The Vernon Johns Story
1994
Vernon Johns

Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
1994
James Earl Jones (uncredited)

Confessions: Two Faces of Evil
1994
Charles Lloyd

The Making of the Lion King
1994
Self

Sommersby
1993
Judge Barry Conrad Issacs

Dreamrider
1993
Bill Perry

The Meteor Man
1993
Earnest Moses

The Sandlot
1993
Mr. Mertle

Excessive Force
1993
Jake

Dangerous: The Short Films
1993
Self (voice) (uncredited)

Percy & Thunder
1993
Percy Banks

Sneakers
1992
Mr. Bernard Abbott

Patriot Games
1992
Adm. James Greer

Scorchers
1991
Bear

Convicts
1991
Ben Johnson

True Identity
1991
James Earl Jones

Visitors from the Unknown
1991
Narrator (voice)

When It Was a Game
1991
(voice)

The Hunt for Red October
1990
Vice ADM James Greer

By Dawn's Early Light
1990
Alice

Grim Prairie Tales
1990
Morrison

The Ambulance
1990
Lt. Spencer

Heat Wave
1990
Junius Johnson

Ivory Hunters
1990
Inspector Nkuru

Teach 109
1990
Dr. Winston

Terrorgram
1990
Retribution (voice)

Field of Dreams
1989
Terrence Mann

Three Fugitives
1989
Dugan

11-22-63: The Day the Nation Cried
1989
Narrator

Best of the Best
1989
Frank Couzo

The Hunting of the Snark
1989
Narrator (voice)

Stories to Remember: Noah's Ark
1989
Narrator

Golden Book Video - Beauty and the Beast
1989
Narrator (voice)

Coming to America
1988
King Jaffe Joffer

Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues
1988
Narrator (voice)

Matewan
1987
'Few Clothes' Johnson

Gardens of Stone
1987
Sgt. Maj.'Goody' Nelson

Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night
1987
Emperor of the Night (voice)

Soul Man
1986
Professor Banks

Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold
1986
Umslopogaas

My Little Girl
1986
Ike Bailey

Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp
1986
Genie / Narrator

The Lone Star Kid
1986
Holmes

City Limits
1985
Albert

Night of 100 Stars II
1985
Self

Visual Pathfinders: Robert Abel & Associates
1985

The Vegas Strip War
1984
Jack Madrid

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
1984
Narrator

Return of the Jedi
1983
Darth Vader (voice)

Amy and the Angel
1982
Gabriel

Conan the Barbarian
1982
Thulsa Doom

The Flight of Dragons
1982
Ommadon (voice)

Blood Tide
1982
Frye

Night of 100 Stars
1982
Self

The Bushido Blade
1981
The Prisoner

God's Trombones
1981
Himself - Narrator (segment "The Creation")

There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace: Life in the Negro Baseball Leagues
1981
himself, voice

The Empire Strikes Back
1980
Darth Vader (voice) (uncredited)

The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story
1980
Dane Oliver

The Me Nobody Knows
1980
Self

Paul Robeson
1979
Paul Robeson

A Walking Tour of Sesame Street
1979
Self - Host

The Star Wars Holiday Special
1978
Darth Vader (voice)

Black Theatre: The Making of a Movement
1978
Self

Star Wars
1977
Darth Vader (voice) (uncredited)

A Piece of the Action
1977
Joshua Burke

The Last Remake of Beau Geste
1977
Sheikh

Exorcist II: The Heretic
1977
Older Kokumo

The Greatest
1977
Malcolm X

The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened
1977
Morris Bird, Jr.

The Making of Star Wars
1977
Darth Vader (voice) (uncredited)

Swashbuckler
1976
Nick Debrett

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings
1976
Leon

The River Niger
1976
Johnny Williams

Deadly Hero
1975
Rabbit Shazam

The UFO Incident
1975
Barney Hill

Claudine
1974
Rupert D. "Roop" Marshall

The Cay
1974
Timothy

King Lear
1974
King Lear

The Man
1972
Douglass Dilman

Malcolm X
1972
Biographical Narration (voice)

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Legacy of a Dream
1971
Narrator

End of the Road
1970
Doctor D

The Great White Hope
1970
Jack Jefferson

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
1970
Self (archive footage)

The Comedians
1967
Dr. Magiot

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
1964
Lt. Lothar Zogg