The world lost one of the most beloved actors (and voices) in pop culture history when James Earl Jones passed away at the age of 93 on September 9, 2024. Of course, his unmistakable voice will forever be immortalized in the speaker box of the ruthless, galactic tyrant, Darth Vader, in the Star Wars movies but he was also known for so much more.
To celebrate the influential, Academy Award-nominated actor, we present a look back at his roles in some of the best James Earl Jones movies and TV shows. These are our picks for his best performances outside of his time in a galaxy far, far away.
The Great White Hope (Jack Jefferson)
The role that earned Jones his sole Academy Award nomination was Jack Jefferson, the first Black heavyweight boxing champion, in 1970’s The Great White Hope. The real-life athlete was the subject of director Martin Ritt’s acclaimed boxing movie which depicted his interracial relationship with Eleanor (Jane Alexander) and his insurmountable struggle with adversity in a white-dominated sport in the early 1900s.
The Greatest (Malcolm X)
Years after The Great White Hope, Jones played another influential historical figure in a movie about the life of a successful boxer – in this case, Muhammad Ali – in 1977’s The Greatest. Ali portrays himself in the film opposite Jones as Malcolm X, who was a close friend of the champ and his mentor in his Muslim faith.
By Dawn's Early Light (Alice)
Decades after appearing in a satirical depiction of nuclear war’s looming threat (more on Dr. Strangelove later), Jones joined a star-studded ensemble to portray the serious subject in a more serious manner in By Dawn’s Early Light (based on William Prochnau’s novel, Trinity’s Child), which premiered on HBO in 1990. The actor earned an Emmy Award nomination for his performance as an Air Force general with the codename “Alice” who is called into action, along with many others, when a missile fired at the USSR is accidentally identified as an attack by NATO.
The Meteor Man (Earnest Moses)
Jones gives one of his more underrated performances in one of the most underrated superhero movies not based on a comic, The Meteor Man, in 1993. The actor dons a funky hairdo to play Earnest Moses, who is neighbors with writer and director Robert Townsend’s character, Jefferson Reed, who becomes a protector of his terrorized community after he is hit with a mysterious meteorite and given special powers.
The Lion King (Mufasa)
It was a stroke of genius for Disney to cast James Earl Jones as the voice of Mufasa, the mighty ruler of the jungle and father of Simba (Matthew Broderick), in the 1994 classic inspired by Shakespeare and one of the best animated Disney movies of all time. Because the character was so distinctly defined by his voice, Jones ended up becoming the only actor from the original Lion King voice cast to reprise his role in Jon Favreau’s 2019 reboot.
Coming To America (King Jaffe Joffer)
Speaking of reprising royalty, Jones would play Jaffe Joffer, ruler of the fictional African country Zamunda, in Amazon Prime’s Coming 2 America. This return to the role came more than 30 years after his first comically earnest performance as the father of the lovesick prince Akeem in one of Eddie Murphy’s best movies, Coming to America – a timeless 1988 rom-com from director John Landis.
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (Lt. Lothar Zogg)
Speaking of comical, James Earl Jones often goes unjustly overlooked for how good his comedic timing could really be – case in point, his 1964 feature film debut as B-52 bombardier pilot Lothar Zogg in one of the best Stanley Kubrick movies, Dr. Strangelove. I don’t know about you, but I get a chuckle from the way his otherwise confident tone breaks into a stifled panic when his plane’s bomb hatch experiences a malfunction in this scathing, boldly bleak Cold War-era satire.
The Sandlot (Mr. Mertle)
Lothar Zogg is a prime example of how Jones can make a memorable character out of such a brief appearance, much like his role in this classic kids movie from 1993 that is still praised as an essential cinematic celebration of the summer by many. Mr. Mertle does not officially show up until near the end of The Sandlot, but Jones’ warm portrayal of the non-seeing owner of Hercules (a.k.a. “The Beast”), an old friend of Babe Ruth himself, serves as the perfect home run.
Field Of Dreams (Terence Mann)
Speaking of home runs, The Sandlot was not the first great baseball movie on the actor’s resume (in fact, it was the third), but the second, after 1976’s The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, was Field of Dreams. The magical, inspiring 1989 drama starred James Earl Jones as Terence Mann, a reclusive Civil Rights era author sought out by Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) to help understand the meaning behind messages urging him to build a baseball diamond on his Iowa farm property, which attracts ghosts of the sport’s greatest legends.
The Man (Douglas Dilman)
The Kiefer Sutherland series Designated Survivor was not the first piece of fiction based on the titular clause, as it was also the basis of this 1972 political drama starring Jones as a senator facing gross discrimination after tragedy makes him the Commander in Chief. From a screenplay by The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling and based on Irving Wallace’s novel of the same name, The Man also marked the first portrayal of a Black United States president on film.
The Hunt For Red October (Admiral James Greer)
Based on the first novel featuring Jack Ryan, director John McTiernan’s 1990 suspense classic sees Tom Clancy’s iconic CIA analyst (played by Alec Baldwin, one of the best Jack Ryan actors) literally in deep trying to prove that the Soviet Union’s top submarine captain (played by Sean Connery) is planning to defect at the height of the Cold War. James Earl Jones plays James Greer, the Deputy Director of the CIA who personally recruited Ryan, with an iron fist in The Hunt for Red October, earning him the chance to reprise the role opposite Harrison Ford in both Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.
A Family Thing (Ray Murdock)
Jones shared the spotlight with fellow screen legend Robert Duvall in A Family Thing, in which they both give strong, inspiring performances as a white Arkansas equipment renter and a Black Chicago cop who discover they are half-brothers. Co-written by Billy Bob Thornton, this poignant and often funny 1996 drama has a lot to say about how learning more about yourself can make you a better you.
Conan The Barbarian (Thulsa Doom)
In one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best movies, 1982’s Conan the Barbarian, the title hero seeks revenge on the powerful sorcerer who attacked his village, killed his parents, and forced him into slavery as a young boy, named Thulsa Doom If there is any villainous character from Jones’ repertoire that can rival Darth Vader, it is unquestionably Doom, whose commanding, tyrannical presence and literally hypnotic stare make him an intense force to be reckoned with, even for Arnold.
Roots: The Next Generations (Alex Haley)
This 1979 sequel to the groundbreaking miniseries, Roots, continues to trace the lineage of author Alex Haley following the American Civil War. One of the most stirring and important moments of Roots: The Next Generations appears in the seventh and final episode in which James Earl Jones, as Haley, brilliantly holds his own against Academy Award-winning legend Marlon Brando as American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell, whom Haley interviews for a magazine article.
3rd Rock From The Sun (Narrator)
The early days of one of the best NBC Must See TV Shows, 3rd Rock from the Sun, would begin with a narration explaining Dick (John Lithgow), Sally (Kristen Johnson), Harry (French Stewart), and Tommy’s (a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt) mission to study human behavior for their home planet. No one could have performed that introduction as perfectly as the man they hired: James Earl Jones, which is why it is actually a bit disappointing in retrospect that his voice opened only 19 episodes from the first season in 1996.
Truthfully, these acclaimed performances only make up a small fraction of the winning legacy that James Earl Jones leaves behind. The actor will be deeply missed.
