I spent my first decade in New York working at Variety ’s former offices on Park Ave. South and more than once found myself sharing an elevator with James Earl Jones while he was on his way to or from Verizon to shoot commercials. The giant of an actor, who died today at age 93 , never failed to say a warm “Good morning” or “Good Afternoon,” and even if I hadn’t recognized his face or his imposing 6’2” frame, there was no mistaking that sonorous voice.
His voice was the earth-shaking basso rumble coming from behind the forbidding mask of Darth Vader in the Star Wars saga, starting with the original 1977 film, and the stentorian growl of Mufasa, King of the Pride Lands and father of Simba in The Lion King .
It was also the voice of a revered stage actor, who forged his reputation in the 1960s and ‘70s, tackling the great classical roles in Shakespeare in the Park productions of The Winter’s Tale , Othello , Troilus and Cressida , Coriolanus , Hamlet and King Lear . His versatility led him to Hickey in The Iceman Cometh , Lennie in Of Mice and Men , Lopakhin in The Cherry Orchard and Troy Maxson in Fences .