Voice of Darth Vader James Earl Jones dies

James Earl Jones, the actor who voiced intergalactic villain Darth Vader, and the Lion King's Mufasa died on Monday at the age of 93.

Jones, a longtime sufferer of diabetes, died at his home surrounded by family members, his agent, Barry McPherson, said.

No cause of death was provided.

Jones had a great physical presence on stage and television, as well as in movies, but he would have been a star even if his face was never seen because his voice had a career of its own. The resonating bass could instantly command respect - as with the sage father Mufasa in "The Lion King," and many Shakespeare roles - or instill fear as the rasping Vader in the "Star Wars" films.

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Jones laughed when a BBC interviewer asked if he resented being so closely tied to Darth Vader, a role that required only his voice for a few lines while another actor did the on-screen work in costume.

"I love being part of that whole myth, of that whole cult," he said, adding that he was glad to oblige fans who asked for a command recital of his "I am your father" line to Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill.

"#RIP dad," Hamill wrote on X on Monday with a broken heart emoji above a story about the death of Jones.

Jones said he never made much money off the Darth Vader part - only $9,000 (AED 33,000) for the first film - and that he considered it merely a special effects job. He did not even ask to be in the credits of the first two "Star Wars" movies.

#RIP dad 💔 https://t.co/YXpFoBb2Ua

— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) September 9, 2024

His long list of awards included Tonys for "The Great White Hope" in 1969 and "Fences" in 1987 on Broadway and Emmys in 1991 for "Gabriel's Fire" and "Heat Wave" on television. He also won a Grammy for best spoken word album, "Great American Documents" in 1977.

Although he never won a competitive Academy award, he was nominated for best actor for the film version of "The Great White Hope" and was given an honorary Oscar in 2011.