James Earl Jones spent his final years battling diabetes.
The ‘Star Wars’ actor, who voiced Darth Vader in the franchise, died on Monday (09.09.24) aged 93 at his home in New York, and one of his last interviews has since resurfaced in which he told for the first time he had been secretly fighting diabetes since the 1990s.
Oscar-winning James, who also voiced Mustafa in ‘The Lion King’, told in 2018 how the diagnosis had hit him “like a thunderbolt” – adding the “shock” of the condition had made him focus more on the state of his health as he aged.
He added on the ‘Rachael Ray Show’ about how he had been quietly managing the illness for 20 years: “I was lucky that it was discovered as it was quite by accident. I was in a centre for weight control and diet, trying to lose some weight and I fell asleep on the bench in the middle of the gymnasium one day.
“The doctor who was there said, ‘That’s not normal’, and he encouraged me to go and get checked out. Then I got a test and there it was, type 2 diabetes. It hit me like a thunderbolt.
“I had to retrain myself to be aware of when my body is telling me something.
“Usually with low blood sugar, it’s easy to notice. With high blood sugar, it’s not as easy, and that can be the most dangerous aspect of type 2 diabetes.”
James also revealed his mother was a type 2 diabetic so he should have been “alerted” to the possibility he would also end up with the condition.
He went on: “Older people are at risk, my mother had it. So I should’ve been alerted, but no. One thing I thought was, ‘It’s never gonna happen to me’.
“So when it was discovered, it was by accident. And I feel lucky.
“My wife, my manager, and my assistant – who’s also my son – are always there to support me and make sure I’m eating the healthiest I can.
“I don’t leave home without my son.”
James went on about how the condition did not halt his career: “I can live to the extent that I can do all the work I used to do 10 years ago.
“I love working, and at my age I still love being able to put in eight shows a week on a play or handle a long schedule if I’m doing film or television.
“I didn’t want that to stop, so I had to take responsibility for my condition. It’s more important that I address diabetes, because I will always be a diabetic.”
In 1968, James married actress and singer Julienne Marie, who he met while performing as Othello in 1964.
They had no children and divorced in 1972 and 10 years later he married actress Cecilia Hart, with whom he had a son, Flynn.
She died from ovarian cancer on 16 October, 2016.