Who was James Earl Jones? Five facts about ”Coming to America’ actor James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones, the iconic American actor whose unmistakable voice brought to life characters like Darth Vader in “Star Wars” and Mufasa in “The Lion King” is dead.

Here are five facts about Jones, who died on Monday at the age of 93:

* “Star Wars” creator George Lucas wanted a commanding voice for Darth Vader and first considered casting Orson Welles. He eventually decided that Welles was too recognizable and went with Jones.

* Early in his career, in the mid-1960s, Jones guest-starred in two daytime dramas: Guiding Light and As the World Turns.

* Jones’ own father, Robert Earl Jones, also was an actor, starting in the 1939 movie “Lying Lips.” He would later appear in “The Cotton Club” and “Witness” in the 1970s and 1980s. His best-known role was in “The Sting,” the 1973 film starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman, in which he played Luther Coleman, Redford’s grifting partner. When Luther is killed by a gangster, Redford and Newman seek revenge by putting together the grand con that is the movie’s centerpiece.

* Jones was the second African American male performer after Sidney Poitier to be nominated for an Academy Award in the Lead Actor category for The Great White Hope in 1970. The winner that year was George C. Scott for Patton.

* On the big screen, Jones often played strong, authoritative characters. He portrayed the villain Thulsa Doom in 1982’s Conan the Barbarian, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and later portrayed a king in Eddie Murphy’s Prince in 1988’s Coming to America.

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