James Earl Jones, who died on September 9 at his home in Pawling, achieved every honor an actor might aspire to. One of only 27 performers ever to achieve an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and a Tony, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame, honored with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, and an honorary Academy Award. Appearing in dozens of Broadway plays, films, and TV shows, his resonant basso profundo is etched into our collective memories via the characters he created for “Sesame Street,” “Roots,” “The Simpsons,” Star Wars and The Lion King.
To honor his successful seven-decade career, Broadway’s Cort Theater was renamed the James Earl Jones Theater in 2022. But it wasn't the first theater to bear the late actor’s name. In 2000, Poughkeepsie Day School dedicated a theater to the actor, whose son, Flynn Earl Jones, attended the school from 1994 to 2001.
James Earl Jones knew the value of a good education since it was a teacher’s intervention that turned his life around and ultimately helped him achieve his successful career. A difficult childhood left Jones with a stutter that left him afraid to speak. When a high school teacher saw how much Jones loved poetry, he encouraged him to read it aloud and also to participate in debates and school dramas. That intervention gave Jones the confidence he needed to use his distinctive voice.
“One of the reasons I've heard that he connected to the school is because we already had a rich theater program,” says Spiro Gouras, head of Poughkeepsie Day School.
While Jones and wife, actress Cecilia Hart, sought a good balance of academics and creativity for their son, they also wanted a school that encouraged confidence and critical thinking. The school’s philosophy focuses on cultural competence, the ability to effectively interact with and develop meaningful relationships with people of different backgrounds. The aim is to give children the confidence to speak up for themselves and about issues in the world around them. “It’s about learning that you have a right to celebrate yourself,” says Gouras. “And you also have a right to speak up for yourself and for others.”
From an early age students are encouraged to critically observe various communities, including their own, to understand why some communities have resources that others lack. “So when they get older and in middle school here, they might do something like, look at a redline map from the 40s and 50s,” says Gouros. “They already have that background knowledge.”
When Flynn attended the school, the family gave freely of their time and money. “In the years that James Earl Jones and Cecilia were part of the community, he was a very generous partner in our school, but he also helped others,” says Gouras. During those years, Jones and the actor David Strathairn, also a PDS parent at the time, performed several benefit shows for the school. “When you have that giving culture, when you start that culture in a community, whether you're talking about donations or giving your time, it sort of becomes contagious. I still see that kind of spirit that he brought into our community. It still lives to this day.”
The theater is named after Jones, but visitors won’t see a big plaque outside with his name. “There's some articles on the wall from back then, but apart from the name of the theater, there’s no big thing,” says Gouras. “The actor was not eager to have his name featured prominently. He had to be encouraged to have the theater named James Earl Jones Theater because he didn't do it for recognition. I think he was very happy to not necessarily be put on a pedestal for that.”
