From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.movies


James Earl Jones, Distinguished Actor
and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies at 93
-------------------------------------
James Earl Jones,athe prolific film, TV and theater actor
whose resonant, unmistakable baritone was most widely
known as the voice of "Star Wars" villain Darth Vader,
died Monday morning at his home in Dutchess County, N.Y.,
his rep confirmed to Variety. He was 93.

After overcoming a profound stutter as a child, Jones
established himself as one of the pioneering Black actors
of his generation, amassing a bountiful and versatile
career spanning over 60 years, from his debut on Broadway
in 1958 at the Cort Theatre - renamed the James Earl Jones
Theatre in 2022 -ato his most recent performance in 2021's
"Coming 2 America." For that film, Jones reprised his role
as King Jaffe Joffer from the 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy
"Coming to America" - one of several roles, along with
Darth Vader, that Jones revisited, including the voice of
King Mustafa in Disney's animated feature "The Lion King"
in 1994, the 1998 direct-to-video sequel and the 2019
remake,aand CIA deputy director Vice Admiral James Greer
in three Jack Ryan movies, 1990's "The Hunt for Red
October," 1992's "Patriot Games" and 1994's "Clear and
Present Danger."a

Among his more than 80 film credits, Jones' other notable
movies include as a B-52 bombardier in Stanley Kubrick's
1964 Cold War satire "Dr. Strangelove" (his feature film
debut), as the first Black president of the United States
in 1972's "The Man," as the fearsome villain in 1982's
"Conan the Barbarian," as a reclusive author in 1989's
"Field of Dreams," as a blind former baseball star in
1993's "The Sandlot," and as a minister living in apartheid
South Africa in 1995's "Cry, the Beloved Country."

Jones was nominated for four Tony Awards, and won two, in
1969 for playing boxer Jack Johnson in "The Great White
Hope" (which he reprised on film in 1970, receiving his
only Oscar nomination), and in 1987 for originating the
role of Troy Maxson in August Wilson's Pulitzer
Prize-winning drama "Fences." He was nominated for eight
primetime Emmy awards, winning twice in 1991, for
supporting actor in the miniseries "Heat Wave," about the
1965 Watts riots, and for lead actor in the drama series
"Gabriel's Fire," about a wrongfully imprisoned ex-cop who
becomes a private detective. It wasathe first time an actor
won two Emmys in the same year.

Jones earned a Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, the Screen
Actors Guild Life Achievement award in 2009, an honorary
Oscar in 2011 and a lifetime achievement Tony Award in 2017.
His Grammy award in 1977 for spoken word album makes Jones
only one a handful of actors to receive an EGOT.

Jones' looming yet ultimately affable presence and rich
speaking voice made him a natural for Shakespeare, and he
played some of the great roles, such as Macbeth and Othello,
for Joseph Papp's American Shakespeare Festival. Jones
narrated several documentaries, from 1972's "Malcom X" to
the 2007 Disneynature doc "Earth," and, famously, he intoned
the tagline "This is CNN" for the cable news channel.

His television credits, which number over 70, including many
movies and miniseries such as "Roots" and "The Atlanta Child
Murders," recurring roles on "L.A. Law," "Homicide: Life on
the Street" and "Everwood," and guest roles on shows like
"The Simpsons," "Picket Fences," "Law & Order," "Frasier"
and "House."a

As for his most famous role, Jones was paid $7,000 to lend
his voice to Darth Vader in 1977's "Star Wars: A New Hope,"
but he declined screen credit for that film and its sequel,
1980's "The Empire Strikes Back," out of deference to the
actor who played the role on screen, David Prowse. By 1983's
"Return of the Jedi," however, Jones had become fully
synonymous with one of the most memorable and terrifying
villains in cinema history, and received credit for his work.
He returned to lend Vader's voice again for 2005's
"Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" and 2016's "Rogue One:
A Star Wars Story," but for the 2022 Disney+ series "Obi-Wan
Kenobi," Jones instead authorized Lucasfilm to use archival
recordings and AI technology to recreate Vader's voice.

When asked in 2014 by the New York Times about how he'd kept
his career alive for so long, Jones' response evoked the kind
of plainspoken humility that he had so often brought to his
performances as well.

"The secret is never forgetting that you're a journeyman
actor and that nothing is your final thing, nothing is your
greatest thing, nothing is your worst thing," Jones said.
"I still consider myself a novice."

James Earl Jones was born in 1931 on a farm in in Arkabutla,
Miss. His father, Robert Earl Jones, left home soon after to
pursue his own acting career (the two more-or-less reconciled
when the younger Jones was in his 20s, and they even performed
together). When Jones was 5, he moved with his maternal
grandparents to Michigan. The shock of the relocation induced
a stammer so severe that he often could communicate only in
writing. It wasn't until high school when he started to
overcome his stutter, when his English teacher, upon learning
that Jones composed poetry, encouraged him to read his writing
aloud in class.

As an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan,
Jones initially set out to study medicine, but wound up more
interested in drama. His first stage role was a small part in
the 1957 Off Broadway production "Wedding in Japan." He took
side jobs to supplement occasional theater work in Broadway's
"Sunrise at Campobello," "The Cool World" and "The Pretender."
He also appeared in summer stock.

In 1960, Jones joined Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival.
The following year he made his first serious impact in a
landmark Off Broadway production of Jean Genet's "The Blacks"
as the protagonist Deodatus. Afterwards, for Papp, he played
Oberon in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," the first of many
heralded Shakespearean turns. His masterful 1964 performance
as Othello for Papp was moved Off Broadway, where the
production ran for almost a year.a

Jones' first big break into cinema came by way of Papp's
production of "The Merchant of Venice," in which Jones played
the Prince of Morocco to George C. Scott's Shylock. When
Stanley Kubrick came to see Scott, whom he was considering for
one of the leads in "Dr. Strangelove," the film director was
so impressed that he cast Jones in the film, too. In 1966,
Jones had the title role in "Macbeth" at the New York
Shakespeare Festival, again to great acclaim. He also booked a
recurring role on "As the World Turns" in 1966, marking the
first time a Black actor had a continuing role on a daytime
soap opera

Still, he was almost one of Broadway's best-kept secrets until
1968, in Howard Sackler's "The Great White Hope" as Jack
Johnson, the first Black man to win the world heavyweight
boxing championship. The Tony, the acclaim and its timing in
the late '60s propelled Jones into the spotlight at a time
when it was difficult for Black actors to secure quality roles.
But the actor, however, has said that the accolades he received
for for both the play and its film adaptation did not do that
much for his career.

It wasn't until 1977, when Jones' voice terrified audiences for
the first time as Darth Vader, that things truly began to shift
for him. That same year, Jones also appeared in ABC's "Roots"
playing the author Alex Haley, whose genealogical novel of the
same title inspired the groundbreaking miniseries. He never
quite became an outright star in the classic sense of the word,
but the back-to-back successes that year did ultimately make
Jones a household name, whose presence connoted a stature and
gravitas to projects that might otherwise be lacking.

Theatre is where Jones most frequently was a box office draw in
his own right -aand well into his 80s. He returned to Broadway
in 2005 for a production of "On Golden Pond" opposite Leslie
Uggams, drawing another Tony nomination. In 2008, he played Big
Daddy in a production of Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin
Roof" that featured an all-Black cast including Terrence Howard,
Anika Noni Rose and Phylicia Rashad.a

Two years later, he returned to Broadway in a revival of
"Driving Miss Daisy" opposite Vanessa Redgrave; the
production's move to London in 2011 meant he had to miss the
Honorary Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles. Instead, Sir Ben
Kingsley surprised Jones with his statuette in person after
he'd concluded a matinee performance of the show.a

Jones was first married to actress-singer Julienne Marie. His
second wife of 34 years, actress Cecilia Hart, died in 2016. He
is survived his son, Flynn Earl Jones.



<https://variety.com/2024/film/news/james-earl-jones-dead-darth-vader-lion-king-1236138656/>





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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.movies


James Earl Jones' Darth Vader Has Already Been Immortalized With AI
-------------------------------------------------------------------
James Earl Jones died Monday at the age of 93. But long before he
did, he gave Lucasfilm permission to recreate his iconic Darth
Vader voice for shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi.

If anyone could make the Dark Side sound good, it was James Earl
Jones. The actor, who died Monday at the age of 93, provided the
voice for Darth Vader in more than a dozen Star Wars properties,
from A New Hope to Star Tours. He made the Force sound ominous in a
way that made it appealing. With his passing, it feels as though all
the power and gravitas and respect he brought to the character is
gone.

It's not. It's in the hands of AI.

A few years ago, when Jones provided a few lines of dialog as Vader
for The Rise of Skywalker, he'd expressed interest in wrapping up
his time as the Sith Lord, according to Vanity Fair. Lucasfilm, in
need of a way to continue the character - and particular to
continue having a version of the character's voice as it sounded in
those early Star Wars movies - turned to a Ukrainian company called
Respeecher that used artificial intelligence to make a recreation of
the Vader voice based on Jones' past performances. (The actor signed
off on the use of his archive to train the speech model.)

Ultimately, Respeecher's work, completed amidst Russia's invasion of
Ukraine, ended up in Obi-Wan Kenobi, and what, if any, Vader
performance that comes in the future could now depend on its AI.
(Reps for Respeecher and Lucasfilm did not immediately return emails
seeking comment.)

Jones' passing marks a pivotal moment in the future of AI-generated
performances. During last year's prolonged Hollywood actors' strike,
one of the biggest sticking points between the Screen Actors
Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or
SAG-AFTRA, and the studios was whether or not studios needed to
secure permission to use a past performance to train AI models.
Ultimately, SAG won guardrails around the use of AI in recreating
performances. Now the question is: How will those play out with
Darth Vader?

It's a particularly interesting question when it comes to voice
acting specifically. The full recreation of vocals may feel further
along than the full recreation of whole performances, but they also
feel more poignant.

When Paul McCartney used AI to help fashion a Beatles song from
tapes made when the Fab Four were still alive, the results felt
haunted. When OpenAI released a demo of its voice assistant Sky and
Scarlett Johansson believed it sounded much like the voice she used
in Her, she was "shocked, angered, and in disbelief" that the
company "would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to
mine." OpenAI denied she was the inspiration but paused the demo.
Video game voice actors are on strike right now to get protections
for their vocal performances. Voices, it seems, are currently at
their highest value.

Ultimately, what will now happen to the Darth Vader voice is not
really a question of rights-Jones gave permission - but rather one
of emotion. Will Lucasfilm, or its parent company Disney, want to
produce future Star Wars shows or movies featuring AI Vader
following Jones' death? Will people respond positively to them?
With a character as iconic as Vader, should there be a point at
which fans let go?

From Audrey Hepburn selling Dove chocolates to hologram Tupac,
posthumous performances have been a part of pop culture for years.
But unlike Audrey and Pac, Jones is in on the plan; he is
seemingly the first celebrity to have allowed his iconic presence
to be recreated with AI before his passing. What will likely
decide how well AI Vader goes over is how it's handled. A Darth
Vader feature film may not be as warmly received as, say, a Force
ghost cameo or a flashback. It'll be a test to see how welcomed
the character will be now that the man behind it is gone.



https://www.wired.com/story/james-earl-jones-darth-vader-death-artificial-intelligence/>





--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.movies

In article <vboekc$2or7a$1@dont-email.me>,
Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote:

James Earl Jones' Darth Vader Has Already Been Immortalized With AI
-------------------------------------------------------------------
James Earl Jones died Monday at the age of 93. But long before he
did, he gave Lucasfilm permission to recreate his iconic Darth
Vader voice for shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi.

If anyone could make the Dark Side sound good, it was James Earl
Jones. The actor, who died Monday at the age of 93, provided the
voice for Darth Vader in more than a dozen Star Wars properties,
from A New Hope to Star Tours. He made the Force sound ominous in a
way that made it appealing. With his passing, it feels as though all
the power and gravitas and respect he brought to the character is
gone.

It's not. It's in the hands of AI.

A few years ago, when Jones provided a few lines of dialog as Vader
for The Rise of Skywalker, he'd expressed interest in wrapping up
his time as the Sith Lord, according to Vanity Fair. Lucasfilm, in
need of a way to continue the character - and particular to
continue having a version of the character's voice as it sounded in
those early Star Wars movies - turned to a Ukrainian company called
Respeecher that used artificial intelligence to make a recreation of
the Vader voice based on Jones' past performances. (The actor signed
off on the use of his archive to train the speech model.)

Jones' passing marks a pivotal moment in the future of AI-generated
performances. During last year's prolonged Hollywood actors' strike,
one of the biggest sticking points between the Screen Actors
Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or
SAG-AFTRA, and the studios was whether or not studios needed to
secure permission to use a past performance to train AI models.
Ultimately, SAG won guardrails around the use of AI in recreating
performances. Now the question is: How will those play out with
Darth Vader?

It's a particularly interesting question when it comes to voice
acting specifically. The full recreation of vocals may feel further
along than the full recreation of whole performances, but they also
feel more poignant.

When Paul McCartney used AI to help fashion a Beatles song from
tapes made when the Fab Four were still alive, the results felt
haunted. When OpenAI released a demo of its voice assistant Sky and
Scarlett Johansson believed it sounded much like the voice she used
in Her, she was "shocked, angered, and in disbelief" that the
company "would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to
mine." OpenAI denied she was the inspiration but paused the demo.
Video game voice actors are on strike right now to get protections
for their vocal performances. Voices, it seems, are currently at
their highest value.

Ultimately, what will now happen to the Darth Vader voice is not
really a question of rights-Jones gave permission - but rather one
of emotion. Will Lucasfilm, or its parent company Disney, want to
produce future Star Wars shows or movies featuring AI Vader
following Jones' death?

Wasn't that the whole point of securing the rights from Jones and
creating the AI version in the first place? If Jones's death makes it
'too creepy' or something to use the AI in new projects, then what was
the point of doing it all in the first place?

With a character as iconic as Vader, should there be a point at
which fans let go?

From Audrey Hepburn selling Dove chocolates to hologram Tupac,
posthumous performances have been a part of pop culture for years.
But unlike Audrey and Pac, Jones is in on the plan; he is
seemingly the first celebrity to have allowed his iconic presence
to be recreated with AI before his passing. What will likely
decide how well AI Vader goes over is how it's handled. A Darth
Vader feature film may not be as warmly received as, say, a Force
ghost cameo

A Force ghost cameo would have Hayden Christiansen's voice, not Jones's.

or a flashback. It'll be a test to see how welcomed
the character will be now that the man behind it is gone.

As a fan, I wouldn't have any problem with it at all since I know Jones
gave his blessing and was presumably well paid for it.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.movies

In article <vboekc>,
Your Name <YourName> wrote:

James Earl Jones' Darth Vader Has Already Been Immortalized

With AI

-------------------------------------------------------------------

James Earl Jones died Monday at the age of 93. But long

before he

did, he gave Lucasfilm permission to recreate his iconic

Darth

Vader voice for shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi.

If anyone could make the Dark Side sound good, it was James

Earl

Jones. The actor, who died Monday at the age of 93, provided

the

voice for Darth Vader in more than a dozen Star Wars

properties,

from A New Hope to Star Tours. He made the Force sound

ominous in a

way that made it appealing. With his passing, it feels as

though all

the power and gravitas and respect he brought to the

character is

gone.

It's not. It's in the hands of AI.

A few years ago, when Jones provided a few lines of dialog as

Vader

for The Rise of Skywalker, he'd expressed interest in

wrapping up

his time as the Sith Lord, according to Vanity Fair.

Lucasfilm, in

need of a way to continue the character - and particular to
continue having a version of the character's voice as it

sounded in

those early Star Wars movies - turned to a Ukrainian company

called

Respeecher that used artificial intelligence to make a

recreation of

the Vader voice based on Jones' past performances. (The actor

signed

off on the use of his archive to train the speech model.)

Jones' passing marks a pivotal moment in the future of

AI-generated

performances. During last year's prolonged Hollywood actors'

strike,

one of the biggest sticking points between the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists,

or

SAG-AFTRA, and the studios was whether or not studios needed

to

secure permission to use a past performance to train AI

models.

Ultimately, SAG won guardrails around the use of AI in

recreating

performances. Now the question is: How will those play out

with

Darth Vader?

It's a particularly interesting question when it comes to

voice

acting specifically. The full recreation of vocals may feel

further

along than the full recreation of whole performances, but

they also

feel more poignant.

When Paul McCartney used AI to help fashion a Beatles song

from

tapes made when the Fab Four were still alive, the results

felt

haunted. When OpenAI released a demo of its voice assistant

Sky and

Scarlett Johansson believed it sounded much like the voice

she used

in Her, she was "shocked, angered, and in

disbelief" that the

company "would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily

similar to

mine." OpenAI denied she was the inspiration but paused

the demo.

Video game voice actors are on strike right now to get

protections

for their vocal performances. Voices, it seems, are currently

at

their highest value.

Ultimately, what will now happen to the Darth Vader voice is

not

really a question of rights-Jones gave permission - but

rather one

of emotion. Will Lucasfilm, or its parent company Disney,

want to

produce future Star Wars shows or movies featuring AI Vader
following Jones' death?

Wasn't that the whole point of securing the rights from Jones

and

creating the AI version in the first place? If Jones's death

makes it

'too creepy' or something to use the AI in new projects, then

what was

the point of doing it all in the first place?

With a character as iconic as Vader, should there be a point

at

which fans let go?

From Audrey Hepburn selling Dove chocolates to hologram Tupac, posthumous performances have been a part of pop culture for

years.

But unlike Audrey and Pac, Jones is in on the plan; he is
seemingly the first celebrity to have allowed his iconic

presence

to be recreated with AI before his passing. What will likely
decide how well AI Vader goes over is how it's handled. A

Darth

Vader feature film may not be as warmly received as, say, a

Force

ghost cameo

A Force ghost cameo would have Hayden Christiansen's voice, not

Jones's.

or a flashback. It'll be a test to see how welcomed
the character will be now that the man behind it is gone.

BTR1701 wrote:

As a fan, I wouldn't have any problem with it at all since I know

Jones

gave his blessing and was presumably well paid for it.

The primary goal of securing such rights is often to preserve and
extend the legacy of the individual, allowing their presence to
continue in new projects even after their passing. However, the
emotional impact on audiences and the ethical implications can
complicate this intention. Some people might find it unsettling or disrespectful to use an AI version of a deceased person, which can
lead to hesitation or backlash.

In essence, while the technical and legal groundwork might be in place
to use the AI, the human elementuhow people feel about ituplays a
crucial role in determining whether itAs appropriate to proceed.
Balancing respect for the individualAs legacy with audience sentiment
is a delicate task.


This is a response to the post seen at: http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=673581561#673581561


--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.movies

On Sat, 28 Sep 2024 20:38:41 +0000,
mummycullen@gmail-dot-com.no-spam.invalid (MummyChunk) wrote:

In article <vboekc>,
Your Name <YourName> wrote:

James Earl Jones' Darth Vader Has Already Been Immortalized

With AI

-------------------------------------------------------------------

James Earl Jones died Monday at the age of 93. But long

before he

did, he gave Lucasfilm permission to recreate his iconic

Darth

Vader voice for shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi.

If anyone could make the Dark Side sound good, it was James

Earl

Jones. The actor, who died Monday at the age of 93, provided

the

voice for Darth Vader in more than a dozen Star Wars

properties,

from A New Hope to Star Tours. He made the Force sound

ominous in a

way that made it appealing. With his passing, it feels as

though all

the power and gravitas and respect he brought to the

character is

gone.

It's not. It's in the hands of AI.

A few years ago, when Jones provided a few lines of dialog as

Vader

for The Rise of Skywalker, he'd expressed interest in

wrapping up

his time as the Sith Lord, according to Vanity Fair.

Lucasfilm, in

need of a way to continue the character - and particular to
continue having a version of the character's voice as it

sounded in

those early Star Wars movies - turned to a Ukrainian company

called

Respeecher that used artificial intelligence to make a

recreation of

the Vader voice based on Jones' past performances. (The actor

signed

off on the use of his archive to train the speech model.)

Jones' passing marks a pivotal moment in the future of

AI-generated

performances. During last year's prolonged Hollywood actors'

strike,

one of the biggest sticking points between the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists,

or

SAG-AFTRA, and the studios was whether or not studios needed

to

secure permission to use a past performance to train AI

models.

Ultimately, SAG won guardrails around the use of AI in

recreating

performances. Now the question is: How will those play out

with

Darth Vader?

It's a particularly interesting question when it comes to

voice

acting specifically. The full recreation of vocals may feel

further

along than the full recreation of whole performances, but

they also

feel more poignant.

When Paul McCartney used AI to help fashion a Beatles song

from

tapes made when the Fab Four were still alive, the results

felt

haunted. When OpenAI released a demo of its voice assistant

Sky and

Scarlett Johansson believed it sounded much like the voice

she used

in Her, she was "shocked, angered, and in

disbelief" that the

company "would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily

similar to

mine." OpenAI denied she was the inspiration but paused

the demo.

Video game voice actors are on strike right now to get

protections

for their vocal performances. Voices, it seems, are currently

at

their highest value.

Ultimately, what will now happen to the Darth Vader voice is

not

really a question of rights-Jones gave permission - but

rather one

of emotion. Will Lucasfilm, or its parent company Disney,

want to

produce future Star Wars shows or movies featuring AI Vader
following Jones' death?

Wasn't that the whole point of securing the rights from Jones

and

creating the AI version in the first place? If Jones's death

makes it

'too creepy' or something to use the AI in new projects, then

what was

the point of doing it all in the first place?

With a character as iconic as Vader, should there be a point

at

which fans let go?

From Audrey Hepburn selling Dove chocolates to hologram Tupac, posthumous performances have been a part of pop culture for

years.

But unlike Audrey and Pac, Jones is in on the plan; he is
seemingly the first celebrity to have allowed his iconic

presence

to be recreated with AI before his passing. What will likely
decide how well AI Vader goes over is how it's handled. A

Darth

Vader feature film may not be as warmly received as, say, a

Force

ghost cameo

A Force ghost cameo would have Hayden Christiansen's voice, not

Jones's.

or a flashback. It'll be a test to see how welcomed
the character will be now that the man behind it is gone.

BTR1701 wrote:

As a fan, I wouldn't have any problem with it at all since I know

Jones

gave his blessing and was presumably well paid for it.

The primary goal of securing such rights is often to preserve and
extend the legacy of the individual, allowing their presence to
continue in new projects even after their passing. However, the
emotional impact on audiences and the ethical implications can
complicate this intention. Some people might find it unsettling or >disrespectful to use an AI version of a deceased person, which can
lead to hesitation or backlash.

In essence, while the technical and legal groundwork might be in place
to use the AI, the human elementuhow people feel about ituplays a
crucial role in determining whether itAs appropriate to proceed.
Balancing respect for the individualAs legacy with audience sentiment
is a delicate task.

This is a response to the post seen at: >http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=673581561#673581561

IIRC, the film /Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow/ did something
like that.
Probably without the AI, though.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2