The great actor, James Earl Jones, who died last week at the age of 93, had one of the most beautiful, resonant, and expressive voices I have ever heard. He worked as a stage, television and film actor, and created the iconic voices of both Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in the Lion King.
One thing I did not know about him was that he began stuttering badly when he was about 6, and was then almost completely silent until he was about 14. It was a high school English teacher, encouraging him to recite poems in front of the class, who helped him learn how to work to overcome his debilitating stutter.
In an interview in 1993, he described the way reading poems aloud helped his voice: "When there is a rhythm to carry you, then you can get past the trippings."
He continued to work on his voice for the rest of his career. In an interview with NPR, Jones said of his stuttering: “I don't say I was 'cured.’ I just work with it.”
