NEW YORK, Jan, 23, 2009
James Earl Jones: A Chameleon At His Craft
After 10 Decades On Stage, TV & Film, He Is Humbled To Receive SAG's Life Achievement Award
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James Earl Jones will receive a Life Achievement Award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles. (CBS/The Early Show)
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Play CBS Video Video Jones To Receive SAG Honor Julie Chen talks to actor James Earl Jones about his career in theatre and film for which he is being honored by the Screen Actors' Guild.
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Photo Essay James Earl Jones The actor with the commanding voice also commands the stage, screen & TV.
On Sunday, he will receive a Life Achievement Award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles.
"It's a great thrill for me. I have been around a long time," Jones told Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen.
"So I qualify for a lifetime thing, but I'm primarily a stage actor. So I feel my ambition is to be a centipede, a monopede is an actor who does only movies. I'm a dualpede, a triplepede. I do commercials and animations. I'm going towards the centipede," he said.
"Everything you do, we love. But how do you see yourself first and foremost, as a stage actor? Because that's the bulk of your work?" Chen asked.
"No, I don't. I'm a novice at film. But I got my training in stage. So I feel more at home there, but I love all the other media," he said.
Jones has played a myriad of great roles and has given life to "The Lion King's" Mufasa and "Star Wars'" Darth Vader.
Despite those widely-known roles, Jones says that he likes the "obscure ones," which include his favorite stage plays by August Wilson and Shakespeare.
His roots come from acting on stage, but he is eager to do more film, which he humbly says, he's just learning.
With Jones' memorable role in "Field of Dreams," it's hard to believe that the stellar actor is just learning film.
"To get this honor from fellow actors for your film work, that must be just so flattering," Chen said.
"That is just astonishing," Jones replied.
Jones openly admits to having a stutter - a condition that could be potentially frightening on stage; however, with hard work and dedication to his craft, he has overcome it.
"I am a stuttter. Once you stutter, you never stop being a stutterer. You can work with it, you can work around it, and I do most of the time," he admitted. "Well, you try to find the rhythm. Stutterers who sing don't stutter when they sing. And when you read poetry, you don't stutter because there's a rhythmic factor. And good drama, well-written drama like August Wilson, has a rhythm in it. It's a language rhythm," he said.
More than 40 years ago, Jones played the role of the first black president.
"And now here we are experiencing our first black president. What does that mean to you?" Chen asked.
"It means -- I think it is as it should be. It's OK to get excited about it. What will have to excite us is what we do for him. There was a young rap artist who said Obama is the door, and we just have to walk through it. But it has to be a tall person to walk through that door. You have to get yourself together. And that's what we have to do. That will be exciting," Jones said.
"Have you ever met Barack Obama?" Chen asked.
"No. I'd love to. But I'll take my time. He'll be there a while, you know. And he's got a lot of things to do," he said.
The Screen Actors Guild Awards airs Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009, on TNT at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.
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- ''''After 10 Decades On Stage, TV & Film, ''''
He looks real good for somebody over 100 yrs (10 decades) old.
Posted by nojoy01 at 02:27 PM : Jan 23, 2009
LOL. I think I''ve figured it out - we''re the CBS News freebie copy editors. They post all sorts of poorly-written articles, we correct them for free (I''ve corrected my fair share) and they don''t have to pay us, provide health insurance, etc. Nice scam they have going. - Reply to this comment
- "One tends to get the life Achievement Award at what is felt as the end of their professional career."
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I''ve also noticed some actors pass away just after receiving it, as if it is known in the biz that they are very ill. I hope this is not the case with Jones.
I''d like to see stats on post-LTA Award survival. Maybe there''s a curse! - Reply to this comment
- One tends to get the life Achievement Award at what is felt as the end of their professional career.
- Reply to this comment
- Too bad no mention of my favorite of his roles - The B-52 navigator in "Dr. Strangelove."
- Reply to this comment
- ''After 10 Decades On Stage, TV & Film, ''
He looks real good for somebody over 100 yrs (10 decades) old. - Reply to this comment
