Sad, sad news today.
James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader and Mufasa, the bad guy in Arnold's Conan movie, the glue in Field of Dreams and many, many other characters in cinematic history, has died at the age of 93.
Jones' unmistakable voice was one of the first to be licensed for digital reproduction, so in a very real sense, we may well get new performances from him in the future, even though he has died. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about that. On one hand, it's nice know that a new Star Wars project can still have the "real" Darth Vader in it, but on the other hand, it really subverts the natural order of life and may take roles away from up and coming actors in the future.
Should you like to see the late, great James Earl Jones in a joyful, fun and not in any way digitally created role, I recommend his turn as the Josh Gibson inspired power hitting Leon Carter in 1976's The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings. It's a somewhat sanitized look at the lives of (fictional) Negro League baseball players in the late 1930s and it's a very, very good film with Jones, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor and more. One of my favourite movies of that era, actually.
So, if you're so inclined, fire up a Star Wars movie, Conan the Barbarian or Field of Dreams and salute the career of one of the all time great actors of the last 50 years.
Thanks for the memories, Mr. Jones. With great respect, you shall be mourned.
No comments:
Post a Comment