When mentioning best voice work in films, one cannot exclude the iconic Darth Vader from “Star Wars” or King Mufasa from “The Lion King”. James Earl Jones has been a leader in the voice acting world and an accomplished actor as well. Many dedicated to the craft look to him and his career as motivation for their own goals.

“If you were an actor or aspired to be an actor, if you pounded the payment in these streets looks for jobs, one of the standards we always had was to be a James Earl Jones,” Samuel L. Jackson once said.

“You can’t think of an artist that has served America more,” director Kenny Leon told the Associated Press. “It’s like it seems like a small act, but it’s a huge action. It’s something we can look up and see that’s tangible.”

James Earl Jones’s agent, Barry McPherson, reported that Jones passed away Monday morning at his home in New York. He was 93.

His legacy is vast. As one of the first African American actors to become a prominent figure in Hollywood, he overcame great systematic and social obstacles.

He has received numerous awards throughout his life. He won two Emmys and two Tony Awards, a Grammy, a Golden Globe, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors, a special lifetime achievement Tony, and an honorary Oscar.

Jones is most known for his voicework as Darth Vader, King Mufasa, CNN announcer, and his Grammy winning “Great American Documents” audiobook.

In front of the camera, he had roles in “The Great White Hope”, “Field of Dreams”, “Dr. Strangelove”, “The Greatest”, “Conan the Barbarian”, and many more.