James Earl Jones, the iconic voice that brought Mufasa to life in the 1994 original Walt Disney Movie, is returning to the role in the new 2019 remake.
He is the only original cast member from the big screen animated movie to come back for the live-action reboot.
Throughout his long career, screen legend Earl Jones has racked up over 189 credits. Other than his role as Mufasa, James Earl Jones has worked on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Hunt for Red October, Coming to America, Driving Miss Daisy, Agent X, Everwood, Under One Roof, and Gabriel’s Fire, a television series from 1990.
While his list of accomplishments is simply too long to list, as his first role was back in 1952 as a guest role on Guiding Light, and four years later on As The World Turns, it’s important to note that he’s an award-winning actor. In fact, he’s been nominated 26 times and has 24 wins over his belt.
These awards include everything from the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes to the Emmy Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
You may also recognize his voice from CNN, as he’s the one who says, This is CNN, on the network. Even though it sounds like him, he’s not the voice of the Arby’s commercials, where the voice says, We Have the Meats!
While Jones is known for his voice, he actually had a stuttering problem as a child. He started acting to help him deal with the stutter and he has revealed that he still has to think about what he has to say before saying it. That’s rather impressive, considering he’s best known for his voice and his contagious and well-recognizable deep laugh.
His voice was also used in the Star Wars movies as Darth Vader in the original movies. You won’t find his name in the credits, however, because he felt his contributions weren’t worth a mention. But if you scroll through the credits of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi from 1983 you’ll find his name. He did provide voice work for A New Hope from 1977 and The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, but no credits appear.
Born in Mississippi in 1931, James Earl Jones is actually known as simply Todd as this is a common nickname for him. He was married to Julienne Marie in 1968 but divorced in 1972. He would later marry Cecilia Hart in 1982. They were married up until her death in October 2016. They have one child together.
The Lion King will be released in theaters on July 19, 2019.