“No, I am your father.”
These words, uttered by James Earl Jones in his voice-over role as Darth Vader, are indelible in the minds of Star Wars fans. Jones is also well known for voicing Mufasa in The Lion King and a series of cable news promotions in which he declared, “This is CNN.”
But Jones’s booming basso profundo is just one part of his legacy. The famed actor, who passed away in September at age 93, had a decades-long career in film, television, and theater that earned him a place among the greatest performers of our time. His legacy also includes a collection of properties in upstate New York, a net worth in the tens of millions of dollars, and a deal ensuring that future generations of moviegoers will enjoy his iconic voice.
From Silent Stutterer to Silver Screen Star
Jones is best remembered for his voice, but as a child, he did not speak for years after he and his family moved from Mississippi to Michigan when he was five years old; the trauma of relocating caused him to develop a stutter.
“I was mute from grade one through freshman year in high school . . . I just gave up on talking,” Jones said in a 1986 interview.”[1]
A high school teacher helped Jones find his voice again by encouraging him to read his poetry aloud,[2] sparking a passion for oration and performance that took him from the small stages of northern Michigan to the silver screens of Hollywood.
Jones won a public speaking contest as a high school senior and received a full scholarship to the University of Michigan, where he studied drama.[3] He then served in the US Army during the Korean War[4] before moving to New York and landing lead roles in Shakespearean stage productions.[5]
In the mid-1960s, he made his film debut in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove and scored roles on TV’s Guiding Light and As the World Turns. But it was his 1969 portrayal of boxer Jack Jefferson in The Great White Hope—both on Broadway and in the 1970 film—that brought Jones major recognition, earning him a Tony Award and an Oscar nomination.[6]
Jones was the second African American man nominated for an Academy Award.[7] He eventually won an Oscar in 2011 when he received an Academy Honorary Award, making him one of the few entertainers to achieve the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony).[8]
He never won an award for his voice role as Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise, but it was this 1977 performance that gained him international fame and immortalized his voice in popular culture.
Jones chose to take a lump-sum payment of $7,000 (the equivalent of around $36,000 today)—instead of a share of profits—to voice the villainous Vader and, at the time, considered it good money.[9] However, choosing the lump sum over a profit-share option reportedly cost him and his family millions in payouts.[10]
Explaining his thought process years later, Jones said that as a starving young actor, he never expected Star Wars to achieve its cult status and become a multibillion-dollar franchise: “Seven thousand dollars was big money for me in those days. I was broke and needed the money to pay rent and buy groceries.”[11]
Jones retired from his Darth Vader role in 2019. Prior to his passing, however, he teamed up with a Ukrainian AI company to recreate his voice and gave Lucasfilm permission to use it in future productions.[12] His AI-generated Darth Vader voice can be heard in Disney’s 2022 Obi Wan Kenobi series. According to IMDb, it was his final credit.[13]
With the deal, the voice we almost never heard is now assured to live forever. And while Jones’s legacy is inseparable from what he did behind the microphone, what he achieved on-screen is equally memorable. His nearly 200 film and television credits include Roots, Conan the Barbarian, Coming to America, Field of Dreams, The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, The Simpsons, and Cry, the Beloved Country.
Personal Life, Properties, and Probable Sole Heir
Jones died on September 9, 2024, surrounded by family at his home in Pawling, New York, located in Dutchess County. He had an estimated net worth of $40 million at the time of his death.[14]
Jones fell in love with Dutchess County during a road trip there in 1970 with a friend who was interested in property for sale. His friend passed on buying the property, but Jones ended up securing the land for himself.[15] Far from the bright lights of Hollywood, Jones lived the rest of his life in Pawling, where he was active in the local community and he and his wife raised their son, Flynn.
He liked it so much, in fact, that he bought 10 neighboring properties over the years and laid down roots of his own.[16] Jones had a particularly close relationship with Poughkeepsie Day School, which Flynn attended from 1994 to 2001. In 2000, the school named its auditorium the James Earl Jones Theater in his honor.
Flynn was born in 1982 to Jones and his second wife, Cecilia Hart, shortly after the couple wed. Hart, also an actor, died of ovarian cancer in 2016.
Flynn Earl Jones was close to his father and, though not an actor himself, followed in his footsteps by working as an audiobook narrator. He also married an actress, Lorena Monagas. The couple wed in 2019 in Tarrytown, New York, an hour south of Pawling. Flynn has 17 voiceover credits on Audible.com[17] but prefers a life out of the spotlight and has no social media profiles.
As James’s only child, Flynn could be the sole inheritor of his late father’s estate, although there are few public details about the estate plan.
An obituary from the Horn & Thomes, Inc. Funeral Home in Pawling notes that Jones leaves behind “a loving family including his son Flynn Earl Jones, daughter-in law Lorena Monagas Jones, his brother Matthew Earl Jones, his Aunt Helen Irene Georgia Connolly Morgan and many, many others.”[18]
Matthew Earl Jones is James’s half-brother. They have different mothers and the same father. It is uncertain whether he or other family members will share an inheritance with Flynn.
It is also possible that Jones included charitable giving in his estate plan, given his community-mindedness. Those who knew him in Dutchess County praised his generous spirit. He supported several charities, such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Habitat for Humanity.[19] His obituary states that, in lieu of flowers, donations in his honor can be made to Hudson Valley Hospice, providing another hint that Jones might have left part of his estate to charity.[20]
For a man of his accomplishments and fame, Jones managed to stay largely out of the public eye. He even requested that his name not appear in the credits of the first two Star Wars movies in deference to the actor in the Darth Vader costume.[21]
In the few interviews he did give, Jones often reflected on his preference for a quieter life. It would not be surprising if he maintained this privacy in death by using trusts to transfer assets to beneficiaries. A trust agreement stays private, unlike a will, which is a public record once filed with the probate court.
Estate Planning Is Not Just for Celebrities
Celebrity estate plans often make headlines only when something goes wrong and causes family drama. Actors Philip Seymour Hoffman and Heath Ledger, for example, both failed to update their estate plans to include a new child who had been born prior to their passing. Other famous actors, such as Bob Saget, Norm McDonald, and Gilbert Gottfried, died without a will, leading to protracted legal disputes in each case.
Arguably, the biggest mistake that Jones made was forgoing the profit-share option when he signed on to voice Vader. He admitted in 2010 that this decision cost him “tens of millions of dollars.”[22] But Jones can be forgiven for this youthful indiscretion. Almost nobody—not even George Lucas—expected Star Wars to make much money.
We all make mistakes when we are starting our careers and beginning to build our legacies. How we finish is more important. Given what we know about Jones, it seems highly unlikely that he would neglect the people and causes he cared about through a lack of estate planning.
If he were still alive today and asked about his estate plan, he might respond, to quote Darth Vader in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope: “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” Call us at 708.448.5169 to schedule a consultation.
[1] Before His Passing, James Earl Jones Handed Over The Rights To Recreate His Voice To AI To Ensure It Endured For Future Generations, Afrotech (Sept. 11, 2024), https://afrotech.com/james-earl-jones-legacy [hereinafter James Earl Jones Legacy].
[2] Paul Batura, James Earl Jones: My Teacher and Reading the Bible “Helped Me Find Abundant Life,” Daily Citizen (Sept. 11, 2024), https://dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com/james-earl-jones-my-teacher-and-reading-the-bible-helped-me-find-abundant-life.
[3] James Earl Jones, Oscars.org, https://www.oscars.org/governors-awards/ceremonies/honoree-bio/james-earl-jones (last visited Nov. 18, 2024).
[4] Blake Stilwell, James Earl Jones’ First Movie Role Was a Small Part of the Biggest Cold War Film Ever, Military.com (Sept. 10, 2024), https://www.military.com/off-duty/movies/2024/09/10/james-earl-jones-first-movie-role-was-small-part-of-biggest-cold-war-film-ever.html.
[5] Mark Kennedy & The Associated Press, Actor James Earl Jones, whose unmistakable timbre delighted generations of audiences has died at 93, Fortune (Sept. 9, 2024), https://fortune.com/2024/09/09/james-earl-jones-dies-star-wars-lion-king-darth-vader-mustafa.
[6] Id.
[7] Marc Berman, Remembering James Earl Jones: 10 Interesting Facts About The Legendary Actor, Forbes (Sept. 9, 2024), https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcberman1/2024/09/09/remembering-james-earl-jones-10-interesting-facts-about-the-legendary-actor.
[8] James Earl Jones Legacy, supra note 1.
[9] Nicolas Vega, James Earl Jones recorded Darth Vader lines in 2.5 hours for just $7,000: “I lucked out,” CNBC (Sept. 11, 2024), https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/11/james-earl-jones-recorded-darth-vader-lines-in-2-hours-for-just-7000.html.
[10] James Earl Jones’ Family “Robbed” of Multi-Million Dollar Estate: “Star Wars” Actor Died Racked with Regret Over Giving Up Profit Deal From Franchise, Radar (Sept. 26, 2024), https://radaronline.com/p/james-earl-jones-robbed-family-multi-million-estate-star-wars-regret [hereinafter James Earl Jones’ Family “Robbed”].
[11] Id.
[12] James Earl Jones Legacy, supra note 1.
[13] James Earl Jones: Biography, IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000469/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm (last visited Nov. 18, 2024).
[14] James Earl Jones Net Worth, Celebrity Net Worth, https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/actors/james-earl-jones-net-worth (last visited Nov. 18, 2024).
[15] Charlie Lankston, Inside James Earl Jones’ Unique Hudson Home as Actor Who Voiced Darth Vader and Mufasa Dies at 93, Realtor.com (Sept. 9, 2024), https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/james-earl-jones-dead-property-new-york.
[16] Id.
[17] Audible, https://www.audible.com/search?keywords=flynn+earl+jones&k=flynn+earl+jones (last visited Nov. 18, 2024).
[18] Obituary, James Earl Jones of Pawling, New York, 1931 – 2024,Horne & Thomes, Inc. Funeral Home, https://www.hornandthomesfuneralhome.com/obituary/james-earl-jones (last visited Nov. 18, 2024).
[19] James Earl Jones Charity Work, Events and Causes, Look to the Stars, https://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/james-earl-jones#charities (last visited Nov. 18, 2024).
[20] Obituary, supra note 18.
[21] James Earl Jones’ Family “Robbed,” supra note 10.
[22] Max Savage Levenson, In 1977, James Earl Jones Demanded Salary Over “Points” On Star Wars. He Chose . . . Poorly, Celebrity Net Worth (Sept. 9, 2024), https://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/entertainment-articles/1977-james-earl-jones-demanded-salary-front-instead-points-star-wars-chose-poorly.ce of mind while achieving your goals for your loved ones and keeping family harmony. Contact us today at 708.448.5169 for a consultation.
