After decades of starring as the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars saga, James Earl Jones has officially retired from his role. It's being reported that he has signed over voice rights to Lucasfilm and Respeecher.
First appearing as the voice of Vader in 1977, he has continued through the series as the vocal character of the Sith Lord. He had worked on not just the movies but also worked on the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, Rebels and numerous other Star Wars projects. Today, he has stepped down from the role and handed over the usage of his iconic tone to Lucasfilm and the Ukrainian AI audio company Respeecher who will now find new and interesting ways to give Vader his voice.
Apparently, both companies are still planning on using his advice in the future saying that they will, "heed his advice on how to stay on the right course".
Jones is 91 years old. This really isn't a shock and the man obviously deserves to finally step away from being the best villain to ever hit the screen.
Jones was brought in later in to the production of the first Star Wars movie when David Prowse's voice was found to not be threatening enough. George Lucas then opted to hire Jones to do all the voice work in post production via overdubs.
-CG