Robert Earl Jones (February 3, 1910 â€" September 7, 2006), sometimes
credited as Earl Jones, was an American actor and prizefighter. One of
the first prominent black film stars, Jones was a living link with the
Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, having worked with Langston
Hughes early in his career.Jones was best known for his leading roles
in films such as Lying Lips (1939) and later in his career for
supporting roles in films such as The Sting (1973), Trading Places
(1983), The Cotton Club (1984), and Witness (1985). He was the father
of actor James Earl Jones.Jones was born in northwestern Mississippi;
the specific location is unclear as some sources indicate Senatobia,
while others suggest nearby Coldwater. A son of Robert and Elnora
Jones, Robert Earl Jones left school at an early age to work as a
sharecropper to help his family. He later became a prizefighter. Under
the name "Battling Bill Stovall", he was a sparring partner of Joe
Louis.Jones became interested in theater after he moved to Chicago, as
part of the thousands leaving the South in the Great Migration. He
moved on to New York by the 1930s. He worked with young people in the
Works Progress Administration, the largest New Deal agency, through
which he met Langston Hughes, a young poet and playwright. Hughes cast
him in his 1938 play, Don't You Want to Be Free?.
credited as Earl Jones, was an American actor and prizefighter. One of
the first prominent black film stars, Jones was a living link with the
Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, having worked with Langston
Hughes early in his career.Jones was best known for his leading roles
in films such as Lying Lips (1939) and later in his career for
supporting roles in films such as The Sting (1973), Trading Places
(1983), The Cotton Club (1984), and Witness (1985). He was the father
of actor James Earl Jones.Jones was born in northwestern Mississippi;
the specific location is unclear as some sources indicate Senatobia,
while others suggest nearby Coldwater. A son of Robert and Elnora
Jones, Robert Earl Jones left school at an early age to work as a
sharecropper to help his family. He later became a prizefighter. Under
the name "Battling Bill Stovall", he was a sparring partner of Joe
Louis.Jones became interested in theater after he moved to Chicago, as
part of the thousands leaving the South in the Great Migration. He
moved on to New York by the 1930s. He worked with young people in the
Works Progress Administration, the largest New Deal agency, through
which he met Langston Hughes, a young poet and playwright. Hughes cast
him in his 1938 play, Don't You Want to Be Free?.
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