James Earl Jones has died. He was 93.
The iconic actor’s rep confirmed the news to , telling us that he “passed [Monday] morning surrounded by family at home” in Dutchess County, N.Y.
Jones is survived by his son, Flynn, whom he shared with his late wife, Cecilia Hart. She died in 2016 from ovarian cancer.
The former Army Ranger is one of the few entertainers to reach EGOT status after winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony by 2011.
Despite his success in Hollywood, Jones pulled back from the public eye towards the end of his life.
The actor was last photographed in 2019 at the D23 Expo, where he was inducted as a Disney Legend.
Jones’ decades-long career in show business began in the ’50s when he discovered his love for acting at the University of Michigan.
He then moved to New York City to pursue his dreams and worked as a janitor while studying at the American Theatre Wing.
In 1958, he made his Broadway debut in “Sunrise at Campobello” at Manhattan’s Cort Theatre, later renamed The James Earl Jones Theatre in his honor.
A few years later, the legendary actor performed in the American premiere of “The Blacks” inspired by Ghana’s 1957 independence.
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Jones received four competitive Tony Award nominations for Best Actor in a Play during his impressive tenure on Broadway, taking home the hardware for his performances as Jack Jefferson in “The Great White Hope” in 1969 and as Troy Maxson in August Wilson’s “Fences” in 1987.
He also received a Special Tony Award at the 71st Tony Awards in 2017.
His easily recognizable baritone voice also landed him three Grammy Award nominations, one of which he won for Best Spoken Word Album for Children in 1977.
In total, Jones was nominated for eight Primetime Emmy awards. He won twice in 1991 for his roles in “Heat Wave” and “Gabriel’s Fire.”
Jones landed his first film role in Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 Cold War satire “Dr. Strangelove.” He went on to appear in some of the most successful films of all time, voicing Mufasa in “The Lion King” and the iconic “Star Wars” villain.
He also has roles in 1982’s “Conan the Barbarian”, 1988’s “Coming to America,” 1989’s “Field of Dreams,” 1990’s “The Hunt for Red October,” 1993’s “The Sandlot” and more.
Jones was nominated for Best Actor at the 1971 Oscars for “The Great White Hope,” where he reprised his role as Jack Jefferson, the first Black man to win the world heavyweight boxing championship.
Although he didn’t win, he was given an honorary Academy Award at the 2012 ceremony.
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