Darth Vader would not be the most iconic Star Wars villain ever without the voice-acting skills of the legendary James Earl Jones. After voicing the character for nearly half a century, Jones has officially retired as Darth Vader. Jones first brought the character to life, alongside Darth Vader's physical actor David Prowse, in the original 1977 movie.
James Earl Jones was born in 1931 and has had a genuinely outstanding acting career that has spanned over six decades. He made his film debut in Stanley Kubrick's satirical war comedy Dr. Strangelove in 1964, and has since then become a member of an elite group of performers to have been given all four awards necessary to complete an EGOT. Jones has also voiced several iconic characters, outside of Darth Vader; in both the 1994 and 2019 versions, he played the role of Mufasa in The Lion King.
However, James Earl Jones' most iconic and enduring role is voicing Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise. After all, Jones played the character, in film and television appearances alike, for 45 years. Despite how important he is to the character and the Star Wars franchise as a whole, it took until 1983's Return of the Jedi for Jones to be credited as the voice of Darth Vader in a Star Wars movie (his name has been placed into the credits of all subsequence re-releases of the original Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, however). Despite James Earl Jones' retirement from the role, this does not necessarily mean the end for Darth Vader as Star Wars looks to focus on the television landscape on Disney+.
Why James Earl Jones' Darth Vader Voice Was So Important (& Great)
While David Prowse brought the physical aspects of the character, such as his imposing six-foot-seven height, it was James Earl Jones' voice that made Darth Vader the powerful, iconic villain he is. James Earl Jones' distorted breathing alone proved that he could make Darth Vader a scary and imposing force without him even being seen onscreen. Then, when Darth Vader does talk, he does so in a commanding, deep, bass voice. It's this voice that gives Darth Vader his authoritative, and terrifying at times, presence, alongside his towering height.
Without James Earl Jones' voice, Darth Vader would be a shadow of the character he is. George Lucas clearly knew this when he brought in Jones to dub over David Prowse's voice in the original Star Wars. Prowse's West Country accent earned him the nickname "Darth Farmer" from fans. Although David Prowse's physical performance as Darth Vader is fantastic, had Prowse's original voice been used in Star Wars, Vader would not have a fraction of the gravitas he does with Jones'.
Every Star Wars Movie & Show James Earl Jones Voiced Darth Vader In
James Earl Jones voiced Darth Vader in nine different Star Wars movies and shows between 1977 and 2022. He even took part in the infamously awful Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978. In fact, it was the first time he was actually credited as the voice of Darth Vader, though as stated above, he would not receive a film credit until Return of the Jedi. Here's every Star Wars project in which James Earl Jones voiced Darth Vader:
- Star Wars (1977)
- Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Return of the Jedi (1983)
- Revenge of the Sith (2005)
- Star Wars Rebels (2014-16)
- Rogue One (2016)
- The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
- Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
What Does James Earl Jones' Retirement Mean? How Darth Vader Can Return
Although James Earl Jones has retired from voicing Vader, this does not mean that Darth Vader cannot appear, alongside his iconic, original voice, in future Star Wars projects. As part of his final performance as Darth Vader in 2022's Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jones and Lucasfilm worked with Ukrainian A.I. audio company Respeecher, in order to make Jones' recordings sound like he did back in the 1970s. Matthew Wood, the supervising sound editor at Lucasfilm, sent Jones' archival recordings to Ukraine for Respeecher to digitally de-age Jones' voice with their A.I. tools. Wood then presented Respeecher's work to Jones, who then gave his blessing for it to be used in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Jones received an onscreen credit in Obi-Wan Kenobi for his guidance of the A.I. performance. As part of his retirement from the character, James Earl Jones signed over the voice rights to the character to Lucasfilm and Respeecher so that Darth Vader can continue to menace a galaxy far, far away with his original, iconic voice.