It’s no exaggeration to deem James Earl Jones the most recognizable voice on the planet. The esteemed actor, who died Monday at 93, overcame a debilitating stutter in his youth, shaping his sonorous basso into an instrument that conveyed a stunning array of emotion. So notable was his timbre that plenty of obituaries led with roles he only appeared aurally; most notably, the voice of the villainous Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, the regal Mufasa in the Disney animated blockbuster The Lion King, and even the longtime identification behind CNN.

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But to reduce his talents to vocal power is to miss out on Jones’s full artistic capabilities. His tall, broad frame was topped by a face with piercing eyes and a mouth that could curl into a sneer or a triumphant grin. It served him well in dozens of roles in film, television and theater, culminating in an acting career that netted him EGOT status (with the help of an honorary Academy Award), a National Medal of Arts and even a Broadway theater named in his honor. These 12 performances highlight the true depth and breadth of one of the country’s most refined actors.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) Initially pursuing pre-med in college, Jones—a member of the University of Michigan’s ROTC program—decided to try studying drama before his number was called to enlist for the Korean War. While he never fought overseas, his time in the Army informed his first onscreen appearance, as a B-52 bombardier in Stanley Kubrick’s pitch-black Cold War comedy. While Jones serves as a straight man in his scenes, he does get a good laugh delivering “Hey, what about Major Kong?” before Slim Pickens’ cowboy-hatted rodeo clown rides a nuke to hell.

Sesame Street (1969): If a great actor can make reading the phone book an exercise in adventure, James Earl Jones one-upped them all by appearing on the second-ever episode of........

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