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 6, his mother took him to her parents’ farm near ...

Robert Earl Jones, sometimes credited as Earl Jones, was an American actor. One of the first prominent black film stars, Jones was a living link with the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s ...

Jones was born in 1931 in Mississippi but grew up in Michigan, USA. His father, actor Robert Earl Jones, abandoned the family before James was born, a factor that almost eroded his confidence and ...