[ti:Remembering American Actor James Earl Jones]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]American actor James Earl Jones died Monday.
[00:05.20]He was 93 years old.
[00:08.76]His agent, Barry McPherson,
[00:12.36]said Jones died at his home
[00:15.48]in the Hudson Valley area of New York.
[00:20.16]The cause of death was not reported.
[00:23.84]Jones was probably most famous around the world
[00:29.16]for his performance as Darth Vader
[00:32.60]in the Star Wars movie series.
[00:36.12]In interviews, Jones said he loved
[00:39.96]playing the part of Darth Vader,
[00:42.44]and of being part of the Star Wars story.
[00:47.56]"When I walk out tonight
[00:49.32]there will be kids with posters to sign,"
[00:53.04]he once said.
[00:54.60]"I love it. I love
[00:56.72]that I was a part of that cult."
[01:00.72]His deep and powerful voice
[01:03.60]took on a career of its own.
[01:07.44]Jones voiced the part of Mufasa in The Lion King.
[01:13.20]He won a Grammy award in 1977
[01:17.76]for the spoken word album,
[01:20.48]Great American Documents.
[01:24.00]But the voice did not come naturally to Jones.
[01:28.72]As a child, he suffered
[01:30.80]from a severe speech problem.
[01:34.64]James Earl Jones was born
[01:37.12]in the state of Mississippi in 1931.
[01:41.60]He had a severe stutter.
[01:44.92]As a result, he mostly stopped speaking.
[01:49.56]He moved to Michigan when he was six.
[01:53.08]His grandparents became his legal guardians
[01:57.32]and raised him there.
[02:00.36]In high school, Jones recovered his voice
[02:03.64]through his own poetry
[02:05.72]and the guidance of a teacher.
[02:09.36]Jones began to read his poems
[02:12.32]aloud to the class.
[02:14.44]His speaking improved.
[02:18.04]He went on to study acting
[02:20.20]at the University of Michigan.
[02:23.40]He also played on the university's basketball team.
[02:29.00]Jones then served in the United States Army
[02:32.56]from 1953 to 1955.
[02:37.88]In 1965, James Earl Jones
[02:42.16]became one of the first Black actors in America
[02:46.60]to play a continuing part
[02:49.36]on a daytime television drama.
[02:53.20]In his more than 70 years in show business,
[02:57.16]Jones played lead parts
[02:59.64]in many plays by William Shakespeare,
[03:03.04]including Hamlet, Macbeth,
[03:06.36]King Lear and Othello.
[03:10.36]He received Tony awards
[03:12.52]for several performances
[03:14.68]in Broadway plays,
[03:16.64]including The Great White Hope in 1969
[03:21.28]and Fences in 1987.
[03:26.16]He received Emmy awards
[03:28.00]for his work in television, as well.
[03:31.96]And in 2011,
[03:34.28]the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
[03:38.76]awarded Jones an Oscar
[03:41.36]to recognize his work in film.
[03:45.64]His famous voice was also used
[03:48.76]in many television commercials.
[03:52.24]For years, the news network CNN
[03:55.92]has used Jones' voice recording, "This is CNN,"
[04:00.84]for its station identification.
[04:04.96]James Earl Jones was married twice,
[04:08.40]both times to actors.
[04:11.72]He second wife, Cecilia Hart Flynn,
[04:15.32]died in 2016.
[04:18.60]Jones is survived by his son
[04:22.12]from his second marriage, Flynn Earl Jones,
[04:26.32]and his brother, Matthew.
[04:29.80]Jones continued to work well past
[04:32.40]the usual retirement age.
[04:35.04]His most recent work included
[04:38.84]performing again as Darth Vader
[04:42.00]in the Star Wars television miniseries
[04:45.44]Obi Wan Kenobi.
[04:48.12]I'm Caty Weaver. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM