Disability History Month: JAMES EARL JONES: Actor (1931 – present)

Office of the Governor Texas sent this bulletin at 10/27/2014 08:00 AM CDT
  
    Office of the Governor Rick Perry
    Committee on People with Disabilities
  

Monday, October 27, 2014: 

JAMES EARL JONES: Actor (1931 – present)

The voice of James Earl Jones is probably one of the most recognizable ever. He has starred in many movies, including The Great White Hope, Field of Dreams and The Hunt for Red October, as well as stage plays such as Othello, Driving Miss Daisy and Much Ado About Nothing. But it is his distinctive voice for which he is best known – his was the voice of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, of Mufasa in The Lion King, of the CNN tagline, and many other voice-overs. Jones has been called one of the greatest actors and greatest voices in U.S. history.

To create such a career was a challenge for Jones. As a child, he developed a severe stutter and became almost non-verbal for many years. He refused to speak in school until a high school teacher, speaking to him about a poem Jones had written, convinced him to read it in front of the class. Jones did so successfully, without stuttering, and that increased confidence inspired him to go on to study drama at Michigan University.

Certain consonants, Jones said in an interview with the Daily Mail, set off a stutter (such as the sound of “M”) so he avoids them. But that can be a great advantage for people who stutter, he added, as they tend to encourage people with a stutter to develop a greater vocabulary because they have to have more choices of words at their disposal.

Jones’s career led to two Emmy awards, several Tony awards, a Golden Globe award and numerous nominations in various fields. In 1985, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was presented the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, and in 2011, the Academy Honorary Award. He also received the Monte Cristo Award in 2011 from The Stuttering Foundation in recognition of his inspiration to all who have a stutter, and is featured in The Stuttering Foundation’s widely distributed brochure.

Attributions: