The actor who gave Darth Vader his iconic voice has died.

Everyone at Lucasfilm was heartbroken to hear of the passing of James Earl Jones at the age of 93. For over four decades, the stage and screen actor lent his voice to the role of Darth Vader in the Star Wars story.

“James Earl Jones is one of the most versatile and talented actors of our time, with an iconic body of work in film, stage and television,” said Kathleen Kennedy. “The menacing baritone he brought to Darth Vader will be forever beloved by fans and considered one of the finest villain performances in cinema. His commanding on-screen presence and warm off-screen personality will be sorely missed.”

“James was an incredible actor, a very unique voice, both in art and in spirit,” said George Lucas. “For nearly half a century he was Darth Vader, but the secret to it all is that he was a wonderful human being. He brought depth, sincerity and meaning to all of his roles, the most important of which were as a devoted husband to the late Ceci and father to Flynn. James will be missed by so many of us… friends and fans.”

James Earl Jones first came into contact with Lucasfilm in early 1977 when he was cast to provide the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars: A New HopeHe had been a gifted actor on stage and screen for decades, appearing in such classics as Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), a film that influenced writer/director George Lucas.

Although Jones has one of the most recognizable voices of all time and helped make Darth Vader a screen legend, he wasn’t actually Lucas’ first choice for the voice role. “Rumor has it he thought of Orson Welles,” Jones recalled. “And then he probably thought Orson would be too recognizable, so what he ended up choosing is a voice that was born in Mississippi, raised in Michigan, and had a stutter. And that just happened to be my voice.”

Nowadays, of course, it would be difficult to imagine anyone else being the voice of the first Star Wars villain. With his resonant bass register, Jones was ideally suited to the role. “The technique of recording that voice was to keep it within very strict boundaries of intonation, and there was no way to lighten the voice with consciousness,” Jones would explain. “My job, in fact, was to keep consciousness out of Darth Vader’s voice — to take all the humanity out of it.”

Jones has always been generous in his praise of David Prowse for his physical performance as Vader. “David Prowse worked very hard to create Darth Vader… I don’t take credit for the character. I think that performance is in your head. Vader is a great example that if you stay out of the way of a character… good, effective dialogue can bring out all sorts of wonderful things in the viewer’s or listener’s head.”

In the 80’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes BackJones uttered one of the most iconic lines in film history: “No, I “I am your father,” the actor recalled. “When I first saw the dialogue where it said, ‘Luke, I am your father,’ I thought to myself, ‘He’s lying, I wonder how they’re going to play that lie.”

That one simple line of dialogue helped the storyline of the Star Wars saga for the next 25 years. As Jones himself would explain, “Darth Vader doesn’t think he’s evil. And then the suggestion that he wasn’t always evil, so the story becomes, ‘How do you become evil and how do you get rid of it?'”

Jones was able to complete that circle in 2005 when he returned to the role of Darth Vader in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Again with characteristic humility, he paid tribute to actor Hayden Christensen, who after playing Anakin Skywalker would also wear Vader’s costume. “I see great potential for all of the Darth Vader choices in that young man,” he said while the film was still in production.

Darth Vader remained an indelible part of Jones’ career for two more decades, as he reprised the character in a variety of television series (Star Wars Rebels And Obi-Wan Kenobi) to amusement parks (Star Tours: The Adventures Continue) and more feature films (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story And Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker). “I’m so glad I’m part of that whole legend,” he would reflect. “Even as a spectator, and I’m just a spectator. I’m a special effect, you know, at its best.”

To all of us at Lucasfilm, and to countless members of the audience, James Earl Jones was much more than “just a bystander.” He was the voice of the character at the center of our most beloved story, and he will live on in our hearts – and imaginations – forever.