by Adam West
On the ninth of September, James Earl Jones passed away at the age of 93. James Earl Jones appeared in movies including The Sandlot, The Hunt for Red October, Field of Dreams, and Coming to America, although he is most known for voicing characters like the infinitely wise Mufasa in The Lion King and the deeply menacing Darth Vader in several Star Wars films and TV shows.
Jones started out as a farm child and became a legendary actor who starred in some of the biggest franchises known today. Jones began his career on the theater stage, having played roles like Othello in Othello. He began his Hollywood career in 1964 in Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove,” and would be in almost 90 TV dramas, and some 120 movies.
James Earl Jones visited our very own Norton Center on February 15th, 2003 for a convocation during Black History Month. This visit by Jones also included a dinner and a private reception that followed his lecture in Newlin Hall. Jones’ address specifically talked about the legacy of Martin Luther King Junior. The Norton Center of the Arts has since celebrated Black History Month with performances by Ben Vereen and before 2003 had featured Nettie Washington Douglass and William Parker as convocation speakers.
Before the speech, Centre College awarded Jones with an honorary degree doctor of humane letters.
“Everywhere I go, I tell people that ‘The Voice’ is coming,” J.H. Atkins, then assistant vice president and associate professor of education at Centre, now mayor of Danville, said in anticipation of the event. “This will be an extraordinary event.”
Recently, Centre College posted this message on their social medias (Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin):
“We join all those mourning the passing of actor James Earl Jones, who visited campus in 2003. As he was preparing to retire from the College, former Centre College Assistant Vice President for Diversity and Associate Professor of Education J.H. Atkins, now the mayor of Danville, identified spending the weekend with Jones as one of the outstanding memories from his tenure, telling the student newspaper he remembers Jones as ‘a real gentleman.’”
May the Force be with you, James Earl Jones. May the force be with you always.