James Earl Jones, best known as the voice of Darth Vader, dies at 93

One of the most famous voices of all time has gone silent.

James Earl Jones, whose prodigious acting talent was often overshadowed by his distinctive baritone over a seven-decade career that spanned stage and screen, died Monday, his representative said. He was 93.

A contemporary of Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte, Jones didn’t land the same coveted leading roles at a time when there were few to go around for Black actors in Hollywood, but he earned unmatched longevity as a character actor, from his first movie credit in 1964′s “Dr. Strangelove” to his reprisal of his role as King Joffer in the 2021 sequel to “Coming to America.”

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