James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen – eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, The Lion King and Darth Vader – has died.

He was 93.

His agent Barry McPherson confirmed Jones died on Monday morning (US time) at home. The cause was not immediately clear.

The pioneering Jones, who worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the US National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Centre Honours and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement.

In 2022, a Broadway theatre was renamed in his honour.

He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humour and a ferocious work habit.

In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of The Gin Game having already memorised the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.

“The need to storytell has always been with us,” he told The Associated Press then.

“I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn’t get him.”

Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in Field of Dreams, boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit The Great White Hope, writer Alex Haley in Roots: The Next Generation and a South African minister in Cry, the Beloved Country.

Rest in peace, James Earl Jones. One of the most powerful, evocative, emotional voices in cinema history. This is the first scene that came to mind, it’s one of my favorites of all time. pic.twitter.com/AcMSv0dttw

— joe bro (@jbromovies) September 9, 2024

He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader (“No, I am your father”, commonly misremembered as “Luke, I am your father”), as well as the benign dignity of King Mufasa in Disney’s animated The Lion King, and announcing “This is CNN” during station breaks.

He won a 1977 Grammy for his performance on The Great American Documents audiobook.

Jones laughed when a BBC interviewer asked if he resented being so closely tied to Darth Vader, a role that required only his voice for a few lines.

“I love being part of that whole myth, of that whole cult,” he said, adding that he was glad to oblige fans who asked for a command recital of his “I am your father” line.

Star Wars creator George Lucas led tributes to a “beautiful human being” on Monday. Lucas said Jones was “an incredible actor” and “a most unique voice both in art and spirit”.

“For nearly half a century he was Darth Vader, but the secret to it all is he was a beautiful human being. He gave depth, sincerity and meaning to all his roles, amongst the most important being a devoted husband to the late Ceci and dad to Flynn. James will be missed by so many of us … friends and fans alike,” he wrote.

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said he was “one of the most versatile and talented actors of our time, with an iconic body of work across film, stage and television”.

“The menacing baritone he brought to Darth Vader will forever be beloved by fans and regarded as one of the great villainous performances in cinema. His commanding presence on screen, and warm personality off screen, will be greatly missed,” she said.

#RIP dad 💔 https://t.co/YXpFoBb2Ua

— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) September 9, 2024

Disney chief executive Bob Iger credited the “indelible mark” that Jones left on “generations of audiences”.

“A celebrated stage actor with nearly 200 film and television credits to his name, the stories he brought to life with a uniquely commanding presence and a true richness of spirit have left an indelible mark on generations of audiences,” he said.

Elsewhere, Happy Days actor Henry Winkler said Jones “set an example for how to live and work with power and grace”, adding: “Rest well. We loved and love you”.

Some of Jones’ other films include Dr Strangelove, The Greatest (with Muhammad Ali), Conan the Barbarian, Three Fugitives and playing an admiral in three Tom Clancy blockbuster adaptations – The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.

In a rare romantic comedy, Claudine, Jones had an on-screen love affair with Diahann Carroll.

Jones made his Broadway debut in 1958’s Sunrise At Campobello and won his two Tony Awards for The Great White Hope (1969) and Fences (1987). He also was nominated for On Golden Pond (2005) and Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (2012).

He was celebrated for his command of Shakespeare and Athol Fugard alike. More recent Broadway appearances include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Driving Miss Daisy, The Iceman Cometh, and You Can’t Take It With You.

As a rising stage and television actor, he appeared in As the World Turns in 1965, becoming one of the first African American actors in a continuing role in a daytime drama.

Goodbye to the brilliant James Earl Jones.

He gave one of the finest poetic speeches in cinema history. I still feel the same way about baseball all these years later.

Field of Dreams pic.twitter.com/7e5EYE8UXN

— Danny Deraney (@DannyDeraney) September 9, 2024

Jones was born by the light of an oil lamp in a shack in Arkabutla, Mississippi, on January 17, 1931.

His father, Robert Earl Jones, had deserted his wife before the baby’s arrival to pursue life as a boxer and, later, an actor.

When Jones was six, his mother took him to her parents’ farm near Manistee, Michigan. His grandparents adopted the boy and raised him.

“A world ended for me, the safe world of childhood,” Jones wrote in his autobiography, Voices and Silences.

“The move from Mississippi to Michigan was supposed to be a glorious event. For me it was a heartbreak, and not long after, I began to stutter.”

-with AAP