James Earl Jones, 91, is a celebrated actor known for his unique voice that gave life to some of our favorite characters.
But his life to the top was anything but easy, especially because he was raised by a person he called the “most racist person” he ever knew...
Described as ”one of America’s most distinguished and versatile”, actor James Earl Jones can look back on a truly remarkable career, spanning over six decades.
But the award-winning actor had a tough start in life – as a kid, he developed an uncontrollable stutter, and his parents abandoned him.
James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931, in Arkabutla, Mississippi to Robert Earl Jones and Ruth Connolly. According to Biography.com, James is of African, Cherokee, Choctaw and Irish descent.
Shortly after his birth, Jones’ father left. He reportedly never wanted a child. Jones was sent to live with his maternal grandparents and was raised on their farm in segregated Mississippi. His mother lived in the area but had remarried.
The legendary actor’s upbringing was extremely difficult and forced him to grow up rather quickly. His grandmother continuously spewed racist comments around him.
“She was the most racist person, bigoted person I’ve ever known,” Jones said of his grandmother and added:
“She trained us that way. She would consider it defensive racism, but it’s still racism, it’s still the same poison,” he told the BBC in 2011.
Even though he was only five years old, he found himself learning how to think for himself.
I’d go to school with white kids and Indian kids. I knew they weren’t the devils that she said they were. I had to start thinking for myself, and I had to start understanding the extent to which she was right too. But I can now live in the shoes of racists. When I hear about racists, I know exactly what they’re feeling. I said ‘I’m gonna allow myself to feel that, just for the hell of it.’ So I know what they’re going through.
Eventually, his family moved from Mississippi to Michigan, which for him was so traumatic he developed a stutter and refused to speak for quite some time.
“I was a stutterer. I couldn’t talk. So my first year of school was my first mute year, and then those mute years continued until I got to high school,” he said.
It wasn’t until a high school English teacher had the patience to work with him that he was able to overcome his stutter. The teacher introduced Jones to epic poetry – which was the perfect solution.
”He said to me, ‘If you like words, you should be able to say them out loud,’ ” Jones says. “So he tricked me into talking. I credit him with being the father of my voice. He said, ‘You have a man’s voice now, an impressive bass, but don’t let that impress you. If you start listening to your voice, no one else will.’ It was a good lesson in general. I [try] to be devoid of self-consciousness,” Jones told NWA World Traveler in 2008.
Even though Jones was able to achieve an extremely successful career in Hollywood, he again encountered someone in his personal life who held very strong racist opinions.
After splitting from his first wife, Jones met Cecilia Hart in 1979 on the set of Paris. The two worked together on a 1982 production of Othello, and within a year, they were married.
Before that, the couple met on the set of the 1979-80 series Paris, where Jones starred as a police captain and Hart portrayed a young detective.
When he asked for Hart’s parents’ blessing, he was taken aback by her mother’s comments.
Hart’s mother expressed her concerns about her future son-in-law’s skin color and what it would mean for future grandchildren.
He informed her that no matter who he married, his children would always be Black. After listening to Jones, she reportedly changed her attitude towards her son-in-law, and Jones and Hart married in 1982.
The two, who had one son together, remained married until 2016, when Hart died from ovarian cancer.
I love James Earl Jones, but it makes me so angry to hear about all the racism he had to deal with, especially within his own family.
