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Throwback: When Late Darth Vader Star James Earl Jones Revealed How He Got Through Stutter And 'Mute Years'
Late James Earl Jones had a stuttering issue, talking about which he once revealed how one teacher helped him to get over it.
Trigger Warning: This article contains mention of death.
James Earl Jones was one of the greatest actors and voice-over artists in the Hollywood film industry. The great actor recently passed away on September 9, 2024. However, he had opened up about his stuttering issue back in 1996.
As per the actor who was interviewed back then for his induction into the American Academy of Achievement, moving away from Mississippi with his grandparents had affected him a lot, giving him trauma.
He mostly went nonverbal when he stepped into high school. "It wasn't that I stopped talking; it was that I resolved that talking was too difficult," the late actor stated during the interview.
Jones reflected that when he moved to Michigan he developed the issue of stuttering, and hence his first year of schooling became his first mute year. As per the Darth Vader voiceover actor, he continued to stay silent for many years, until high school.
"I resigned to it as a kid," the actor continued while also stating that when he was 10 he had to do school assignments, where the students had to explain and report what they worked on. However, his teacher had allowed him to report his work with a pencil and not through oral examinations, Jones recalled.
Talking more about his mute years, James Earl Jones stated that he liked being quite as he was not bothered by people around him. Soon, divulging how he began to overcome his issue, The Lion King actor credited his high school English teacher, Donald Crouch.
As per the actor, the teacher, Crouch had found out that the young Jones had a fascination with writing great poems. Further in the interview, the Coming 2 America actor recalled that his teacher had asked him if he liked the words in the poem he had written, also telling him that they sound much better when spoken.
With time, the teacher started challenging him, James Earl Jones recalled, provoking him with words like, it's sad that he can not speak out these poems.
The Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins actor stated that Crouch one day teased him in an effort to make him talk again, stating that he doesn’t think that the poems are written by Jones. The teacher also asked the then-student Jones to prove it by narrating his poems in front of the whole class, which made him get up and speak out loud without stuttering.
James Earl Jones died at his home in Dutchess County, New York, as per his agent, who confirmed to PEOPLE.
ALSO READ: From Darth Vader to Mufasa: Remembering James Earl Jones' Top 10 Roles Amid His Death at 93
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