Abstract
These words, popularized first by Mahalia Jackson and then by Aretha Franklin, express the miracle, the awe, the virtual impossibility of James Earl Jones’s staggering achievements. Most importantly of all, he has triumphed over adversity without becoming embittered. A man of dignity, class, humility, and prodigious talent, he has won two Tony Awards, for best actor in Howard Sackler’s The Great White Hope in 1969 and in August Wilson’s Fences in 1987, two Obies, the Vernon Rice Award, an honorary doctorate from Princeton, several Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe, the National Medal of Arts, and several NAACP honors. He has performed in more than 150 stage and screen productions.
How I got over! How I got over! You know my soul Looks back and wonders, Lord,
How I got over!
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Works Cited
Barksdale, Richard and Keneth Kinnamon. Black Writers of America. New York: Macmillan, 1972.
Barnes, Clive. “Theater: Howard Sackler’s ‘Great White Hope’,” The New York Times, 4 Oct. 1968. 40: 1.
Bradley, Jeff. “James Earl Jones Knows Feeling of Vulnerability,” Denver Post, 23 July 1997, G, 1: 5
“Building Fences: An Interview with Mary Alice and James Earl Jones,” Theater, vol. 16, no. 3, 1985, 67–70.
Burg, Robert. “Young Actor on the Way Up,” Negro Digest, Apr. 1966, 26–31.
Current Biography Yearbook 1969 Charles Moritz, ed. New York: H.W. Wilson Company, 1969.
Current Biography Yearbook 1994 Judith Graham, ed. New York: H.W. Wilson Company, 1994.
Deveaux, Dawn Della. The Effects of Racism on the Theatrical Careers of Ira Aldridge, Paul Leroy Robeson and James Earl Jones. M.A. Thesis, Austin Peay State University, 1987.
DeVine, Larry. “James Earl Jones, Broadway’s Great Black Hope, Remembers the Berry-Picking Days in Dublin, Michigan,” The Detroit Free Press, 27 April, 1969, 14–20.
Dudar, Helen. “James Earl Jones at Bat,” The New York Times 22 Mar. 1987, section 2, Arts and Leisure, 1 and 6. [Fences]
Early, Gerald. Entry on Jack Johnson in The Oxford Companion to African American Literature, ed. William Andrews, Frances Smith Foster, and Trudier Harris. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, 404.
Funke, Lewis. ‘Jane Alexander Tells of ‘White Hope’ Challenge,” The New York Times, 29 Oct. 1968. 54: 1.
Glenn, DeFoy. Conversation with author. Circa 1987.
Green, Michelle. “The Struggle To Be James Earl Jones,” Saturday Review, Feb. 1982. 22–27.
Hamill, Pete. “Theater: Gaudy Tragedy of a Black Champ,” Life 25 Oct. 1968, 66–68.
Henderson, Heather. “Building Fences: An Interview with Mary Alice and James Earl Jones,” Theater vol 16, no. 3, summer/fall, 1985,. 67–70.
Hill, Errol. Shakespeare in Sable. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1984.
Jacobus, Lee A. Drama. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press, 1993.
James Earl Jones: A Select Bibliography. (courtesy of Debra Van Tassel) “James Earl Jones,” Negro Digest, Oct. 1962, 43–44.
“James Earl Jones—Actor Still Climbing,” Ebony Apr. 1965. 98–106.
“James Earl Jones,” Life 7 Nov. 1969. 71.
Johnson, James Weldon. Black Manhattan. New York: Atheneum, 1930.
Jones, James Earl. Letter to author. 7 May 1982.
Jones, James Earl. Telephone interview with author. 15 Sept. 1998.
Jones, James Earl and Penelope Niven. James Earl Jones: Voices and Silences. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1993.
Jones, James Earl. ‘Jack Johnson is Alive and Well… on Broadway,” Ebony, June 1969, 54–61.
Jones, Robert Earl. Personal interview with author. 28 June 1980.
Kroll, Jack. “Duel to the Death,” Newsweek, 31 Aug. 1981. 56.
Lamer, Daniel M. Notes on book to author. 28 June 1999.
Louis, Errol. “Suppressing ‘Un-Black’ Art,” Essence, vol. 16, Mar. 1986, 124.
Nicolette, David. “‘Hamlet’ Is a Hit in Central Park Despite Problems,” The Grand Rapids Press, 25 June 1972, 7.
Oliver, Edith. “The Theatre: Mr. Wilson and Mr. Jones,” The New Yorker 6 Apr. 1987, 81. [Fences]
Ploski, Harry A. and Warren Marr. The Afro-American. New York: Bellwether Press, 1976.
Schechter, Joel. “James Earl Jones on Fugard,” Theater, vol 16, no. 1, 1984, 40–42.
“Shadow of the Moor,” Wake Forest University Magazine Sept. 1993, vol. 42, no.1, 10–17. [on Penelope Niven’s book on Mr. Jones] (courtesy of Dr. Dolly McPherson)
Shakespeare, William. Othello. ed. Kenneth Muir. New York: Penguin, 1968.
Sheaffer, Louis. “Is O’Neill a Character in ‘Iceman’!” The New York Times 9 Dec. 1973, D-5. James Earl Jones as Hickey]
Shepard, Richard F. ‘James Earl Jones Now a Champion on Broadway,” The New York Times n.d., n.p.
Shewey, Don. “On a Role: Stars on the Stage,” Harper’s Bazaar, Mar. 1987, 310–13.
Time 21 Feb. 1977, 50.
“Top Black Films of All Times,” Ebony Nov. 1998, 154–162.
Washington, Booker T. Up from Slavery, excerpted in Black Writers of America, ed. Richard Barksdale and Kenneth Kinnamon. New York: Macmillan, 1974, 424–429.
West, Hollie I. “James Earl Jones: Expanding Horizons,” The Washington Post 21 Mar. 1975, B1 - B4.
Wiggins, William, Jr. ‘Jack Johnson as Bad Nigger: The Folklore of His Life,” Contemporary Black Thought, ed. Robert Christman and Nathan Hare. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merril Company, 1973, 53–70.
Zurawik, Dave. “James Earl Jones: A Commanding Presence,” Detroit Free Press, 1 July 1979, C5.
Copyright information
© 2000 Glenda E. Gill
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gill, G.E. (2000). James Earl Jones: “My Soul Looks Back and Wonders How I Got Over”. In: No Surrender! No Retreat!. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-05361-9_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-05361-9_10
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-62002-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-05361-9
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)