- James Earl Jones, known for roles in Field of Dreams, The Lion King, and Star Wars, died at the age of 93.
- Jones was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in his mid-60s, a condition he continued to manage in his later years.
- Although known for his deep, commanding voice, Jones overcame a severe stutter, which he had through much of his early life.
James Earl Jones — known for his roles in The Lion King and Field of Dreams, and as the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise — has died. He was 93. A cause of death was not immediately released.
Jones, who developed type 2 diabetes later in life, overcame a severe stutter in childhood to become an award-winning actor known for his deep, commanding voice.
Jones was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes in his 60s
In a 2016 interview on the Rachael Ray Show, Jones revealed that he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the mid-1990s while attending a diet and exercise center.
At the time, he was in his 60s, an age at which many older adults are frequently diagnosed with this condition.
“Diabetes and other age-related diseases like obesity and abnormal cholesterol are more prevalent as we get older,” said Noa Tal, MD, an endocrinologist of the Pituitary Disorders Center at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, Calif.
Jones told Ray in the interview that his condition was discovered by accident.
“I fell asleep on a bench in the middle of the gymnasium one day,” Jones explained. “And a doctor who was there said, ‘That’s not normal,’ and he encouraged me to go get checked out.”
A laboratory test revealed that Jones had type 2 diabetes.
This kind of delayed diagnosis is not uncommon.
“Unfortunately, [type 2 diabetes] does go under the radar sometimes,” said Tal.
In 2021, 38.1 million American adults had diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than one-fifth of these people had undiagnosed diabetes.
The rate of diagnosed diabetes is highest among American Indian or Alaska Native adults, followed by Black adults, Hispanic adults, and Asian adults, CDC data shows. White adults have the lowest rate of diabetes.
Regular screening, such as during routine doctor’s appointments, can catch diabetes early.
She recommends that everyone ask their primary care physician to screen them for diabetes at age 40 or age 35 if they have other health conditions such as high blood pressure.
“Depending on a person’s ethnicity or any [other health conditions] a patient has, screening can be either yearly or every three years,” Tal said.
How Jones learned to manage living with type 2 diabetes
Jones told Healthline’s Diabetes Mine in a 2016 interview that, after his diagnosis, there were “tough changes, like not having my favorite strawberry shortcake.”
Depending on the severity of the diabetes, some people may be able to control their blood glucose level with changes in lifestyle, said Tal, such as healthy diet and regular physical exercise.
Others may need an oral or injectable medication like metformin, Ozempic or insulin, she said.
Jones had a doctor who suggested he try Invokana. This medication works by eliminating excess glucose through the urine.
“I’ve found that [Invokana] was very helpful in balancing my blood sugar,” he told Diabetes Mine.
Diabetes can sometimes be a lot for patients to manage. In addition to the treatment burden and needing to take care of yourself, there is also an increased risk of complications due to diabetes, especially when it is uncontrolled.
These complications may include heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, nerve damage and foot ulcers.
“When diabetes is not well controlled, it can impact the entire patient,” said Tal. “It affects basically any system in the body.”
How a strong support system can help a person manage type 2 diabetes
One thing that Jones learned by managing his diabetes is that “it comes down to being in tune with your body, and I’m sure the body tells us things long before we’re aware of what’s happening,” he told Diabetes Mine. “Since then, it’s become my job to be more aware of what my body is telling me.”
He also said his wife and son helped him stay “in line” with his healthy eating. “[My son] would count the cookies in the kitchen, and he could smell it on my breath if I snuck some,” he told Diabetes Mine. “They’ve both helped keep me in line.”
“I realized when I was diagnosed with diabetes, my whole family became diabetics,” he explained. “Not that they suffer the same things that I do, but they understand, and we have to work as a family in living with diabetes. They became my support group, as well as my doctors.”
Tal said a strong support system can help people with diabetes successfully manage their condition.
“If I have patients with diabetes who have some issues with memory or if their treatment regimen is complex, I always ask if there is any family support or other social support,” she said.
How Jones overcame a severe stutter
Although Jones is well-known for his voice work, he revealed in a 1986 interview that a severe stutter largely kept him from talking throughout much of his early life.
“I was mute from first grade through freshman year in high school,” he said, “Mute because I just gave up on talking.”
Jones explained to Charlie Rose in 1993 that he learned to speak clearly through reading his own poetry and the poetry of others, even before he had become an actor.
It was his high school English teacher, Donald Crouch, who helped Jones find a way to express himself verbally.
“Donald said, ‘Jim, this poem is so good I don’t believe you wrote it.’ Accused me of plagiarism. ‘And the only way you can prove it is to get up in front of the class and recite it from memory,’” Jones recalled in the interview. When he stood up and recited the poem word for word, they were both shocked, he said.
Jones went on to work in the film industry and on stage for many years.
In spite of that, his stutter “is always there,” he told Rose. “It’s there right now.”
“Stutterers often seem like they are ponderous and deep thinkers,” he went on to explain. “We’re not. We’re simply looking for the word we can say without tripping on it.”
Throughout his career, he continued to struggle with alliteration, and would go through scripts and ask screenwriters to take out any, such as multiple words in a row beginning with vowels, he told Rose.
In the 1986 interview, when asked if he minds talking about his stutter, Jones said he doesn’t.
“It’s just another example of, you find yourself with a weak muscle and you exercise it. And sometimes that becomes your strong muscle,” he said.
Takeaway
James Earl Jones, known for his roles in The Lion King, Field of Dreams, and as the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars, died at the age of 93. No cause of death was immediately given.
The actor revealed in a 2016 interview that he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the mid-1990s, after he fell asleep in the middle of the day at a diet and exercise center. His family and doctors helped him manage this condition throughout his later years.
As a child and teenager, Jones had a stutter severe enough to keep him from speaking from first grade through freshman year of high school. He credited a high school English teacher for helping him overcome his stutter by encouraging him to read his own poetry out loud.
