James Earl Jones: More Than A Voice

Paul Simon, Liz Taylor, conductor James Levine and Broadway star Chita Rivera all were named in the Kennedy Center Honors this year, as was James Earl Jones, one of America's great actors and the owner of one of its most famous voices.

The ceremony was taped for broadcast, and it will be aired Friday night on CBS.

Of Jones, actor Sidney Poitier says, "He has been described as a cross between Paul Bunyon and the Colossus of Rhodes."

Is Jones surprised, at this point in his journey, that somebody would say to him: "What you've done in your life is really significant."

"In the '60s, I stopped reading reviews, and I must have missed something, because I don't know what this all about," Jones says with a laugh.

This is what it's all about: A dirt-poor kid from Mississippi, who moves north, and "finds" himself on the stage, who stuns Broadway with a raging performance in "The Great White Hope," and soars as Lear and Othello. It's about the co-star of countless classic films, from "Strangelove" to "Field of Dreams," and it's about "The Voice," the voice of both hero, like the one in "The Lion King," to and villain like the one in "Darth Vader."

What most people don't know is that when Jones was a child he didn't speak very much.

"I didn't talk at all. I say mute, it wasn't absolute mute, but enough that I didn't talk to strangers. People who came to the house, I couldn't tell them my name, too painful and too embarrassing to talk if you're a stutterer or a stammerer," Jones says.

Interesting that a young man who could barely speak ends up the most recognizable voice in the world.

"That's the best irony, I am an irony, and so, therefore, I can't take any credit or any pride. Pats on the shoulder don't count. I'm just happy to be happy to be able to talk, but the irony is just wonderful and I can smile and say, 'Oh, the voice. The voice of the century, the voice of God, the voice of blah-blah-blah.' It's just irony," Jones says.

On film, whether in "Patriot Games" or "Coming to America," Jones carries a unique credibility and authority. Who else could make us believe so completely in "A Field of Dreams?"

"I've done some wonderful things on film, both the blockbuster types - a role with 12 lines like the Tom Clancy or, I've done some small things like 'Cry, the Beloved Country' or 'Matewan,' about the coal miners, or wonderful 'Claudine' - most people never saw them, but those are the ones I cherish, those little movies are the ones I cherish and think most of," Jones says.

As for a role he considers most significant of his career, Jones says it took him 20 years to go from "The Great White Hope" to "Fences." "But they were 20 years worth waiting because those are two bookends -- part of my legacy, if I have one," he says.

And so at the Kennedy Center, when his turn came, people were on stage talking about him and showing clips from his movies.

"I couldn't sleep last night for about 3 hrs, from 3 to 6, I lay there recalling all kinds of stuff that I haven't thought about for a long time. Not just productions, very little of that, but people I met people I worked with, nice, nice recall," Jones says.

The Kennedy Center Honors will be broadcast Friday at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.