“I lucked out.”Back then nobody imagined “Star Wars” would become a blockbuster, let alone an enduring franchise and cultural phenomenon.
James Earl Jones and Darth Vader during "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" premiere event.
Jesse Dittmar for The Washington Post/Getty Images Jones, seen here in 1960, was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, in 1931.
Steve Ringman/San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images Jones appears with Alec Baldwin in a scene from "The Hunt for Red October" (1990).
The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Jones appears next to Darth Vader, who he famously voiced in the "Star Wars" movies.
Persons:
James Earl Jones, Jones, Darth Vader, King ”, ”, Bob Iger, “, ” Jones, George Lucas, David Prowse, “ George, Lucas, Vader, Jim Spellman, WireImage, ‘, you’ve, Luke Skywalker, Mark Hamill, ” Hamill, He’ll, ’, ’ ”, Robert Earl Jones, James, Langston Hughes, Bettmann, Stanley Kubrick’s “, Strangelove, Jack Johnson, Tony, Sidney Poitier, Alex Haley, TV’s, Thulsa, Conan, ” Kevin Costner’s, Admiral Greer, Costner, Jones ’, King Jaffe Joffer, Wan Kenobi, Mufasa, “ L.A, Law ”, King James, Rachael Ray, ” James Earl Jones, Jesse Dittmar, William Shakespeare's, Stanley Kubrick's, Julienne Marie, Alan Aaronson, Harry Benson, Richard Nixon, Julie Harris, Angela Lansbury, Jerry Orbach, Muhammad Ali, King Lear, Jack Mitchell, Paul Robeson, Robeson, Hulton, Marlon Brando, Ronald Reagan's, AP Jones, Thulsa Doom, Everett, Steve Ringman, Alec Baldwin, Nick Ut, George H.W, George H.W . Bush, Bush, Doug Mills, Cecilia Hart, Flynn, Paul Simon, Chita Rivera, Laura Bush, George W, Alex Wong, Grace, Chris Haston, Rosa Parks, Faith Ringgold, Richard Drew, Kevin Wolf, Matt Rourke, Debbie Allen, Evan Agostini, Forest Whitaker, Kevin Winter, Vanessa Redgrave, Daisy, Sara Krulwich, Astrid Stawiarz, Marian Anderson, Matt Slocum, Grant Lamos IV, Steven Senne, John Atashian, Jones “, …, Arthur Miller
Organizations:
CNN, “, Walt Disney Company, American Film Institute, ‘, University of Michigan, Army, Disney, The Washington Post, US Army, Newspapers, Broadway, CBS, Getty, New York Daily, Daily, ABC, Walt Disney Television, Everett, Hulton Deutsch, AP, San Francisco Chronicle, Mondadori, Arts, Kennedy, NBC, Elementary, NBA, National Constitution Center, Screen, New York Times, Harvard University, Globe, Academy of
Locations:
“, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Hollywood, America, “ The, African, Iowa, Arkabutla , Mississippi, New, Vietnam, Washington , DC, George H.W ., Montgomery, Independence, Philadelphia