Nico (@E0_DS0_Omega) “james earl jones did not speak in public for almost eight years as a child. by t” — TopicDigg

james earl jones did not speak in public for almost eight years as a child. by the time he found his voice he could read poetry without stuttering. half a century later he became the most recognizable voice on earth… january 17, 1931. arkabutla, mississippi. he is born to a teen mother. his father leaves before he is born. he will not meet him until he is 21 years old. age 5. the family moves north to michigan. somewhere in that move he loses his voice. he develops a stutter so severe that he chooses silence. for the next eight years he writes notes instead of speaking out loud. age 14. browning high school in dublin michigan. donald crouch, his english teacher, makes him read a poem he wrote in front of the class. he reads it without stuttering. the bridge between writing and saying becomes the spine of the rest of his career. 1953. he is drafted in the wind-down of the korean war. first lieutenant, cold storage detachment, camp hale colorado. he spends 18 months in the rocky mountains and then walks straight onto the lower east side off-broadway scene with his GI bill. 1969. wins the tony for best actor in 'the great white hope.' he is 38 years old. 1977. samuel goldwyn studio, los angeles. he records the entire darth vader role for star wars in two and a half hours. flat fee: 7,000 dollars. he asks for no screen credit. he tells the producers that david prowse, the actor in the suit, should get sole billing because prowse is the one 'doing the work.' 1989. cnn records his voice for the network identification. 'this is cnn.' it stays the network id for the next 35 years. 2011. the academy gives him an honorary oscar at the governors awards alongside oprah and dick smith. he already had the tony, the emmy, and the grammy. it is not technically EGOT but it is the rest of the matched set. 2022. he signs over the rights to his vader voice to lucasfilm. they will use ai to generate new vader lines from his archive. he is 91 and tells reporters he has 'said all of vader's words already.' september 9, 2024. pawling, new york. age 93. peaceful death at home. a child who chose silence for eight years grew up to define the most recognizable voice in cinema history. drop the james earl jones moment that still gives you chills.