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James Earl Jones, Storied Actor Who Voiced Darth Vader and Mufasa in ‘Lion King,’ Dead at 93

James Earl Jones, the storied actor who voiced Darth Vader in 'Star Wars,' and starred in hits like 'The Lion King' and 'Field of Dreams,' has died.

However, Prowse’s heavy accent and verbal delivery infamously didn’t mesh with the intimidating character — his Star Wars cast mates jokingly called him “Darth Farmer” during shooting — so director George Lucas searched elsewhere to give the villain the voice it deserved. As a prolific supporting actor throughout the Eighties and Nineties: A baseball author in search of a Field of Dreams, a blind ex-baseball player/suburban myth in a heartwarming cameo in The Sandlot, a duplicitous NSA agent in Sneakers and Admiral James Greer in a trio of films based on Tom Clancy’s books, The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and A Clear and Present Danger. Despite retiring from the Darth Vader role — and acting in general — in 2022, Jones ensured that future generations would still hear him in the character when he made a then-cutting edge deal to recreate his trademark voice artificially through an AI program; the technology was first utilized on the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi.

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