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James Earl Jones has died
- zeristor 2y agoA lovely chap.
- orionblastar 2y agoAt a young age, he had a stutter and learned to speak poems to get better at talking. He had the voice of God. RIP.
- david-gpu 2y agoFor me he will always be Thulsa Doom from Conan the Barbarian. You need to watch that movie if you haven't already.
- dxbydt 2y agoSaw that movie in the theater in my early teens. When he turns into a snake - watching that on a 30 feet high screen from the front row - scarred me for life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF0Z5g0Wjuk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF0Z5g0Wjuk
- mrec 2y agoOh, that brings back memories. Somebody didn't get as far as #34 on the Evil Overlord List. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvilOverlordList https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvilOverlordList
- _the_inflator 2y agoI totally agree. He played a sadist, and the irony of this movie is that he rarely makes use of what people admire the most: his infamous voice. True uber-alpha in this movie, fantastic performance. RIP!
- konfusinomicon 2y agoits my favorite movie of all time. the soundtrack alone is worth the price of admission. its got comedy, drama, love, hate, lust, fear, revenge, and all the other feelings a movie can envoke. hey...black lotus, stygian, the best...this better not be haga...I would sell Haga to a slayer such as you?
- mesbahamin 2y agoA delightful performance https://youtu.be/a7Mx9fGzAmM https://youtu.be/a7Mx9fGzAmM
- cdchn 2y agoContemplate this on the Tree of Woe.
- agumonkey 2y agoThat movies exudes a soft mysticism that I find as rare as confusing.
- alexjplant 2y agoI saw "Conan" a year or two after I first saw him in "The Sandlot" and lost it when I realized that the same guy that was doing battle with The Terminator was responsible for saving Smalls from a lifetime of being grounded... his voice made him instantly recognizable in spite of the wig and crazy costumes he wore in the former. RIP.
- woodruffw 2y agoA slightly less cliche fact about James Earl Jones: his film debut was Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, where he plays the bombardier on the B-52[1]. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSbPqin3L6E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSbPqin3L6E
- excalibur 2y agoJust watched that for the first time like a week ago. Totally surreal seeing him as a young unknown actor in a smaller role.
- serf 2y ago"Hey, what about Major Kong?" a great movie with absolutely wholly innocent characters unknowingly contributing their own parts to the apocalypse -- I think about that a lot conceptually. Even the motivations of Gen. Ripper are 'innocent' -- he just happens to have become a delusional psychotic.
- wisty 2y agoThe famous B52 cockpit - From wikipedia: > Lacking cooperation from the Pentagon in the making of the film, the set designers reconstructed the aircraft cockpit to the best of their ability by comparing the cockpit of a B-29 Superfortress and a single photograph of the cockpit of a B-52 and relating this to the geometry of the B-52's fuselage. The B-52 was state-of-the-art in the 1960s, and its cockpit was off-limits to the film crew. When some United States Air Force personnel were invited to view the reconstructed B-52 cockpit, they said that "it was absolutely correct, even to the little black box which was the CRM."[17] It was so accurate that Kubrick was concerned about whether Adam's team had carried out all its research legally.[17] Also IIRC it was the inspiration for the Situation Room. The President asked why Kubric could get a big room with all the screens to deal with a crisis, and he didn't have one.
- _yb2s 2y ago“Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!”
- bitwize 2y agoHe will be looking down at us from the stars, along with the other great kings of the past.
- ColinWright 2y agoThe comments are here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41493976 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41493976
- dang 2y agoThanks! The current article seems more substantive so maybe we'll merge those comments hither.
- OhMeadhbh 2y agoI know everyone is talking about how he voiced Vader, but when I think of him, I think of Strangelove and Hunt for Red October. I didn't spend a lot of time in the fleet, but what I did was rather boring and/or annoying; the idea that something exciting would happen in the CIC is probably why I often think of the line "Now, understand, Commander, that torpedo did not self-destruct. You heard it hit the hull. And I was never here."
- jcastro 2y agoWhen Jack hands him the photos of Red October: "Jesus that's a big sucker."
- cylinder714 2y ago"I told you to speak your mind, Jack, but Jesus!"
- aidenn0 2y agoFor me it's Sneakers "We are the US Government, we don't do that sort of thing"
- geocrasher 2y agoI forgot he was in Sneakers! Fantastic movie.
- beastman82 2y agoFree on YT right now
- iancmceachern 2y agoLove this movie, it really holds up too. I live right near that plaza in SF where Sydney Poitier yells at Martin "its your Mother" with the Car phone in his hand. Great movie
- 2y ago
- andrewstuart 2y agoStar Wars was relentlessly changed by George Lucas - for the worse in my opinion. Star Wars should have been changed to give James Earl Jones starring billing, instead of no credit at all.
- mgiampapa 2y agoThat was his choice out of respect for Prowse.
- andrewstuart 2y agoThat Star Wars factoid does not negate the fact it was wrong.
- hermitcrab 2y agoStar Wars would have been a very different film it is had been voiced by Prowse, with his strong West Country accent. "Luke, Oi am yer faaarther".
- andrewstuart 2y ago"Respect for Prowse" doesn't override that JEJ should have had star credits. Ridiculous.
- mgiampapa 2y agoJames Earle Jones declined credit. It was his respect for Prowse. What world do you live in to say that the actor doesn't get to have a say in how he is billed?
- samatman 2y ago"Voice of Darth Vader" is listed directly under "Darth Vader" in the credits of Star Wars.
- slavik81 2y agoThe credits were changed for the special editions. He is not in the 'starring' section, but they did list him properly in the cast. https://youtu.be/sIPNormrPwg?t=2m30s https://youtu.be/sIPNormrPwg?t=2m30s
- howard941 2y agoTo me he'll always be the "This is CNN" voice
- buttocks 2y agoOr “Bell Atlantic”
- runevault 2y agoSuch an iconic voice. And the fact he got to put voice to so many iconic lines that are hard to imagine coming from anyone else. His speech in Field of Dreams, obviously Vader's "I am your father". Basically all of his lines as Mufasa in Lion King. I just can't think of any voice from the newer generations of actors/VAs that stands up to what he brought. And while his voice was incredible, he clearly mastered it and gave his lines the maximum impact they could have beyond the simple utterance.
- tanseydavid 2y agoI agree completely. JEJ is an impossible act to follow. My opinion is that Dennis Haybert has surely 'risen to the occasion' quite well at the very least. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Haysbert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Haysbert
- runevault 2y agoI'm not just talking still alive, I mean the younger generation. Like Morgan Freeman is also an iconic all-time voice. Is there even any actor in their 40s let alone 30s or 20s who have such an iconic voice dropping such powerful monologues?
- packetslave 2y agoIf we're purely talking voice actors, there are SO many incredible talents to choose from: Mark Hamill as The Joker for sure, Kevin Conroy as Batman, Tara Strong as dozens of characters, etc.
- liquorist 2y agoHe’ll always be the GDI’s General Solomon from Tiberian Sun in my mind.
- kevinventullo 2y agoYes! I remember the cutscenes being pretty campy, but he elevated them.
- Arrath 2y agoI loved that DARTH FREAKIN VADER was the General in my campy game FMV cutscenes.
- slavik81 2y agoTiberian Sun was the first computer game I owned, and his performance was practically the first thing I saw when I finished installing it. At the time, I didn't recognize him, despite being a huge Star Wars fan. https://youtu.be/LT6Y0EIMRiI https://youtu.be/LT6Y0EIMRiI
- sys_64738 2y ago“By your command.”
- crtified 2y agoJames narrating Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven in the very first Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode (2x03), to the backdrop of the quirky and artistic early-Simpsons animation, was such a wonderful union of beautiful cross-generational zeitgeist.
- danparsonson 2y agoAnd still, for me, the best reading of that! There are many renditions out there by some very accomplished actors but I've never heard or seen a better one.
- svat 2y agoHere's a different reading by him of The Raven (not the one from The Simpsons): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXU3RfB7308 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXU3RfB7308 — he chooses to almost ignore the meaning and stick to a recitation, which is great: his voice perfectly brings out the poem's cadence and assonance. Other readings of The Raven, for comparison: Christopher Walken [1], Vincent Price [2], Christopher Lee (build-up in intensity, unfortunately some background music) [3], Basil Rathbone (the opposite of James Earl Jones: in places almost like prose) [4] [1]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wj1DRQs9AQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wj1DRQs9AQ [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuGZ_wp_i9w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuGZ_wp_i9w [3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BefliMlEzZ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BefliMlEzZ8 [4]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jOS2FlLgic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jOS2FlLgic
- mjklin 2y agoHe also played the alien who prepared the “how to cook for forty humans” cookbook on Kang and Kodos’s ship
- lIl-IIIl 2y agoMy Simpsons memory of him is him coming up from the clouds as Mustafa, Darth Vader, and himself saying "This is CNN". But TIL it wasn't him but Harry Shearer doing an impression. https://youtu.be/gc25oAJrKbM?si=nkcdAukLnfbXmkuN https://youtu.be/gc25oAJrKbM?si=nkcdAukLnfbXmkuN
- cheschire 2y agoNooooooooo!
- clarkmoody 2y agoRest in peace to a true legend.
- CapricornNoble 2y agoFor a while I had "Infidel defilers...they shall all drown in lakes of blood." as my ringtone. "What is steel compared to the hand that wields it?" Such an accomplished and memorable individual. RIP.
- geenkeuse 2y agoAs a South African, Cry The Beloved Country resonates deeply with me. Thank you, sir, for all that you gave. Read the book by Alan Paton, and you may go down a rabbithole. They did the story justice with that movie.
- geenkeuse 2y agoCry The Beloved Country, based on the book by beloved South African writer Alan Paton. They did justice to the book. He was spectacular in his portrayal. As a South African it resonates deeply with me and is more relevant now, than ever before.
- christophilus 2y agoI have a vague memory of him reading books on some PBS show in the 80s. Am I misremembering this? I can’t find it in his filmography, though it may have been Fairytale Theater.
- hammock 2y agoThe fourth episode in the premiere season (1983) of PBS's Reading Rainbow featured a story narrated by James Earl Jones. The video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QN9npF9A3M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QN9npF9A3M
- spaceribs 2y agoThis was a show called "Long Ago and Far Away"
- christophilus 2y agoYes! That’s it.
- xavdid 2y agoHe's done a lot of great work. Selfishly, one of my favorites is narrating the University of Michigan (his alma mater) football hype videos and stadium announcements. Always felt unique and fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1PFH3w_b8g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1PFH3w_b8g
- holman 2y agoWhen this comes on in the Big House you immediately feel like you want to run through a brick wall for the team.
- schappim 2y agoRemember past kings live in the stars...
- mindcrime 2y agoWell, let's say my name is Mr. Abbott R.I.P. Mr Abbott.
- coding123 2y agoHe was 93, and of course this kind of thing is expected and we shouldn't be surprised by news like this, but somehow this news hit hard. I guess after 40, when your own personal heroes pass, part of you dies with them.
- gremlinsinc 2y agoI'm still reeling over Chester Bennington... (I'm 44)
- brookst 2y agoLesser known role: he voiced Mara on the Disney Indiana Jones ride.
- HaZeust 2y agoDamn, it's a sad day for voice acting. Mufasa, Vader, Strangelove - his voice demanded attention and authority. May he rest well
- WalterBright 2y ago"Backup circuits are switched on. Still negative function"
- gexla 2y agoDamn, RIP the voice of my childhood. Who else do we have remaining? Morgan Freeman for one. Maybe Eddie Murphy on the comedy side.
- kreelman 2y agoI wonder if James Earl Jones passing deserves a black banner on Hacker News...? He certainly gave life to many characters loved on Hacker News..
- krapp 2y agoProbably not unless he wrote a particularly relevant compiler in the 1970s, or something.
- 0xcde4c3db 2y agoI recommend his reading of Frederick Douglass's "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" [1]. The combination of Jones's voice and Douglass's incisive eloquence is really something special. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0baE_CtU08 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0baE_CtU08
- marnett 2y agoThanks for sharing. That was very moving.
- 23B1 2y agoand now he shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine
- tomkarho 2y agoI find his lack of life disturbing.
- Bluestein 2y agoJames Earl Jones read the Bible as an audio book. Who - other than him - could pull such a feat?
- indigo0086 2y agoI recently heard someone at church who listened to his audio bible, I thought that's such a great voice for it.
- Bluestein 2y agoGravitas itself, personified.-
- svat 2y agoHere he is in 2009, performing Shakespeare at the (Obama) "White House Evening of Poetry, Music and the Spoken Word": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJybA1emr_g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJybA1emr_g (Othello's speech defending himself: [1]) (Incidentally, it was on the same occasion that Lin-Manuel Miranda first announced he was working on a hip-hop album about treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton, to some laughter, before performing a sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNFf7nMIGnE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNFf7nMIGnE — the musical came out six years later.) [1]: https://www.litcharts.com/shakescleare/shakespeare-translations/othello/act-1-scene-3#:~:text=Most%20powerful%2C%20serious%2C%20and%20honorable,that%20I%20have%20married%20her https://www.litcharts.com/shakescleare/shakespeare-translati....
- breck 2y ago> “The secret is never forgetting that you’re a journeyman actor and that nothing is your final thing, nothing is your greatest thing, nothing is your worst thing,” Jones said. “I still consider myself a novice.” Beautiful advice. One of my favorite scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SB16il97yw&t=16s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SB16il97yw&t=16s
- ChrisArchitect 2y ago"round-abound" TomTom GPS ad!
- sakopov 2y agoEvery time I see this man I think of this scene with Robin Williams [1] from The Angriest Man in Brooklyn. RIP. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ2qRWPda78 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ2qRWPda78
- iambateman 2y agoYou know he was good when the Lion King remake had a chance to recast the entire movie with actors like Beyoncé and Donald Glover and the casting director was like “well obviously we aren’t changing Mufasa.”
- cyode 2y agoGood on that casting director. Bad on Disney for subsequently greenlighting Mufasa: The Lion King (2024).
- thisisauserid 2y agoHis genie in Shelly Duval's Fairy Tail Theater: Aladdin (directed by Tim Burton) was terrifying and brilliant! https://youtube.com/watch?v=_hDTxK4xfCA https://youtube.com/watch?v=_hDTxK4xfCA
- coldcode 2y agoMy favorite story from the CB radio era: “I did that once when I was traveling cross-country. I used Darth as my handle on the CB radio. The truck drivers would really freak out — for them, it was Darth Vader. I had to stop doing that,” Jones told the Times magazine.
- nateburke 2y agoRIP Chief Green, Terrence Mann.... I loved everything he did.
- mhh__ 2y agoI saw Dr strangelove on 35mm recently (the film stock was completely fucked but still what a treat). Great voice.
- ruined 2y agohis lesser-known supporting role in the john sayles film 'matewan' is great, if anyone's looking for uncommon recs.
- peutetre 2y agoI've searched my feelings and they're all sad. :(
- agumonkey 2y agoFunny how voices are so impactful. RIP
- dredmorbius 2y ago<https://www.xkcd.com/493/ https://www.xkcd.com/493/>
- Rediscover 2y agoJames Earl Jones did the intro for the book "Poetry [to read] Out Loud." His voice is very present in those written words. Great stuff!
- coolio1232 2y agoI haven't seen shocks like this since taco night at James Earl Jones' house.
- rasengan 2y agoI guess there's going to be a flood of JEJ AI.
- UberFly 2y agoI saw him close up filming "Three Fugitives" with Martin Short in Tacoma, WA on a random summer day in 1988. He grinned and gave a peace sign to my friends and I. I don't know if they make them like him any more.
- masfoobar 2y agoVery sad news. Very good actor - far beyond than just the voice of Vader. I would not be surprised he is a good bloke behind the camera, and sadly missed by those close to him.
- tessierashpool9 2y ago[flagged]
- joshcsimmons 2y agoIs this tech news?
- dbt123 2y agoI had the privelege of meeting James Earl Jones when I was in college. I was taking a theater appreciation class and our professor got us tickets and bakestage passesto a Broadway production of Othello. Mr. Jones was very welcoming and even discussed the meaning of the handkerchief in Othello with me. He was so welcoming and so willing to talk with some college students, I will always remember this moment and share it with anyone sho's willing to listen!
- tmnstr85 2y agoWhen I was 11, I had the incredible opportunity to join him in the recording booth during one of his voice-overs for Bell South. I stuttered badly at the time, but he was incredibly kind and understanding. He took 30 minutes out of his day to sit with a kid he didn't even know and talk about the art of speech—it was life-changing. I’ll never forget that day. A few months later, we received two large 3x3' posters in the mail. Blown-up photos of us working together that day. In the lower right-hand corner of each, he had signed them, "May the force be with you! JEJ / To my friend, Best Wishes, JEJ (AKA Mustafa)." What an awesome guy. I just pulled those pictures out, and 29 years later, I’m still filled with awe and immense gratitude.