He's the commanding voice that says "This is CNN".
His "death" was announced during a live broadcast of an NBA playoff game in April 1998. The deceased was actually James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of Martin Luther King.
His father-in-law's favorite movie is Gunga Din (1939).
His first time acting was at the Ramsdell Theater in Manistee, Michigan.
His parents, Ruth Connolly and Robert Earl Jones, separated just before he was born. He was raised by his maternal grandparents.
His vocal performance of Darth Vader is ranked #84 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
In the original Star Wars trilogy, he and Billy Dee Williams were the only black actors to play major roles. One of Billy Dee Williams's other roles was the title role in Scott Joplin (1977) (TV). Scott Joplin's ragtime music was used as the score for The Sting (1973), which features James's father, Robert Earl Jones.
Is a member of the National Rifle Assocation of America (NRA).
Is a United States Army veteran and former member of the 75th Rangers Regiment.
Is of African-American, American Indian and Irish ancestry. His paternal great-great-grandmother, Parthenia Connolly, was a native of Ireland who worked as an indentured servant. She married a former slave named Brice. Because Brice had no surname of his own, he took his wife's name Connolly. His maternal grandmother, Maggie Anderson, was part Choctaw Indian. He also has Cherokee ancestry.
Known for his humility, he declined to have his name appear on the credits of both Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), claiming that he felt his contribution wasn't significant enough to warrant a credit. He did agree to have his name appear of the credits of Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983).
Narrated the documentary Black Indians: An American Story (2001) , which explores issues of racial identity between the mixed-descent peoples of both Native American and African American heritage. Jones himself is a Black Indian.
On June 15th 2005, he was forced to leave the Broadway revival of On Golden Pond (1981) due to a bout of pneumonia.
On October 8, 2002, he appeared along with Theo Lion from PBS's "Between the Lions" (1999) before the House Education Reform Subcommittee to explain the importance of supporting literacy programs.
Provided the thunderous voice (uncredited) of Darth Vader, the villain of the original Star Wars trilogy.
Son of prizefighter-turned-actor Robert Earl Jones, from whom he was (allegedly) estranged long into adulthood. Yet they starred together in a well-received stage revival of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men", as Lennie Small and Crooks, respectively (Kevin Conway also starred in the play, as George Milton).
Son, with Cecilia Hart: Flynn Earl Jones.
To help get over his stuttering, he would write poetry, and his schoolteachers would let him read it in front of the class.
Took acting lessons to control his stutter.
Was once an Army officer after college.