Actor JAMES EARL JONES was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi in 1931, and was raised by his maternal grandparents on their Michigan farm. Jones was encouraged to read poetry aloud in grade school to combat a stutter that had rendered him mute as a boy. After studying theater while in the ROTC at the University of Michigan, he served in the military, rising to first lieutenant prior to discharge. Moving to New York, Jones began working in theater, making his Broadway debut in 1957, and gradually amassing a resumé of stage roles that included major Shakespearean leads. Jones made his film debut In Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove…” in 1964, and has gone on to become “one of the greatest actors in American history”.