Israel Laryea pays glowing tribute to legendary actor James Earl Jones
Renowned Ghanaian broadcaster Israel Laryea has paid a heartfelt tribute to the late American actor James Earl Jones, best known for being the voice of the Star Wars villain Darth Vader.
Jones is also the voice behind US broadcaster CNN’s tagline, “This is CNN”.
The award-winning actor and voiceover artist died on Monday, September 9, 2024, at age 93.
Israel Laryea in his tribute to James, narrated how his encounter with him at CNN some years back shaped his voiceover career and how his experience birthed TV3’s famous ident, “This is TV3, First in News, Best in Entertainment”.
“Hello my name is Israel Laryea from Ghana, I have been a broadcaster for more than two decades until about two years ago when I took a break from the media to lead an influencer marketing agency. James Earl Jones has been a huge influence on my career.
“I recall way before I got into broadcasting in the early 90s when we had access to CNN on the UHF channel that’s where you really have to struggle before you get the visual.
“I heard a voice, ”This Is CNN International’, and I didn’t know who it was but eventually I got to know it was James Earl Jones so I also tried to mimic because I was told you also have a baritone. I became a broadcaster myself and I started doing voiceovers, I recall having to do ident for TV3, one of the private TV stations in Ghana, and I tried to do it like James Earl Jones will do it, ‘This Is TV3, First in News, Best in Entertainment””.
“Yes, he had a really huge influence on my career, James Earl Jones, so yes, he is a real hero, a legend. May his soul rest in peace,” he noted in a video shared with the BBC.
Israel Laryea also expressed his readiness to record an ident for CNN and any international media firm as inspired by Earl Jones.
“Yeah, I have always actually wanted to eventually be called or invited by CNN or any of these international networks to say why don’t you do a voice ident for us, and I will gladly do it, so yes, I’m putting it out there”.
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More on James Earl Jones
Born in Mississippi in January 1931, Jones said he was unable to speak for most of his childhood because of a stammer.
He explained he had developed his famous voice while working on how to deal with the stammer.
Jones was best known for voicing Darth Vader in the original Star Wars film, which came out in 1977, and sequels The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
He reprised the role in later film releases such as the first instalment of the Star Wars anthology series, Rogue One, and the third instalment of the sequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – both released in the later 2010s.
During his career, Jones won three Tony awards, including two Emmys and a Grammy, as well as an honorary Oscar in 2011 for lifetime achievement.
In 1971, he became only the second Black man nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, after Sidney Poitier.