Darth Vader’s Stuttering Therapy

Speech Disorders
Darth Vader

Image source: Badassoftheweek.com

James Earl Jones began his career in theater, but his first breakout film role was in “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” Since then, his meteoric rise to fame has included numerous voiceovers for roles like Mufasa in “The Lion King.” “Star Wars” fanatics everywhere can immediately identify Jones as the infamous, deep voice of Darth Vader. But the man who would give Darth Vader his trademark voice had previously lost his. In fact, James Earl Jones suffered a debilitating speech disorder in his childhood. Because of it, Jones remained functionally mute for eight years. If it hadn’t been for the tenacity of a high school English teacher, Darth Vader might have had a much less impressive voice.

Continue reading