James Earl Jones (ex-Jim Frazier) will receive the 2008 Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment.
"James Earl Jones' distinguished career on stage, in film, on television, in commercials and as a vocal presence without peer commands our admiration and respect," Alan Rosenberg, president of SAG, said in a statement. "His long and quiet devotion to advancing literacy, the arts and humanities on a national and local scale deserves our appreciation. It is our honor to bestow the guild's highest tribute on this extraordinary actor."
To daytime viewers, Jones is known for his soap roles as Dr. Frazier on Guiding Light and as Dr. Jerry Turner on As the World Turns. However, to the masses he is known for many big roles. Jones is known for his distinctive bass voice, which can be heard in the Star Wars trilogies where he voiced villain Darth Vader, as Mufasa in Disney's The Lion King, and on CNN and Verizon commercials for decades. His latest project is as the voice of the Giant in Jack and the Beanstalk co-starring Katy Segal, Chevy Chase, Christopher Lloyd and Wallace Shawn.
The award will be presented to Mr. Jones at the 15th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 25. The ceremony will be simulcast on TNT and TBS that same day at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Photo: Bleacher & Everard/PGP
