An Icon Lost

There are certain actors and actresses whose performances transcend time. You can make the argument, in my case, that actors like Sean Connery, Harrison Ford, Robin Williams, Ed Harris, Bruce Willis, and Morgan Freeman have played some of the greatest roles in cinema history for my era, and I'd have to include the man to the left as well as James Earl Jones was one of those actors who seemed to steal scenes just by appearing. Yes, the voice he had is unmistakable when heard, but Jones was and is an icon when it comes to who he portrayed on the screen in just a handful of movies. We lost James Earl Jones yesterday at the age of 93, and the world seems a little cloudier today without him.

His list of works where he had a significant impact on me is lengthy. His voice work as Darth Vader in the Star Wars series made Vader that much more imposing. His voice work as Mufasa in The Lion King still resonates today in turning Mafasa from lion into king of the savannah. He'll always be the "CNN voice" to me. He was excellent in the brief appearances he made as Admiral Greer in Patroit Games, The Hunt for Red October, and Clear and Present Danger. His lesson for the boys in The Sandlot as Mr. Mertle keeps that film high on my list. But there is one role that always rings true every summer for me: Terence Mann in Field of Dreams.

His speech as Terence Mann while Timothy Busfield is imploring Kevin Costner to sell the farm to avoid foreclosure might be one of the best scenes in any sports movie ever made. I know everyone associates the "If you build it" quotation as being that film's most famous line, but Jones delivering the following line echoes for eternity.

"America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game - it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again."

When we hear older folks talking of simpler times, these are the times to which they're referring. When baseball games cost a couple of bucks to attend and hot dogs and a soft drink were fifty cents each, those are the teams to which people harken back, and everything that Mann said about America being erased and rebuilt has happened. The constant in each of those scenarios? It's baseball which is why ballparks like Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are referred to as "cathedrals".

I'm posting Mann's speech as delivered by Jones, and I will always stop to listen to his words when I can. Here's that scene.

That movie's cast was an all-star roster of actors: Costner, Jones, Ray Liotta, Burt Lancaster, Amy Madigan, Gaby Hoffman, and Art LaFleur to name the actors you may recognize. Timothy Busfield was excellent in his role as Mark, Frank Whaley hit the role of Archie Graham out of the park, and Dwier Brown as Ray Kinsella is so underappreciated. This was an exceptional cast of acting talent.

Field of Dreams was nominated for Best Picture in 1990, and imagine competing with the likes of Driving Miss Daisy, Dead Poets Society, and Born on the Fourth of July for that award. Driving Miss Daisy won the award that year, but any of those choices could have easily taken home the prize. When they say "they don't make them like they used to", they may be talking about movies!

Rest peacefully, James Earl Jones. You brought happiness and entertainment to many with your incredible cast of characters and the acting range you possessed, and there won't be another quite like you in my time. As Amy Madigan describe Terence Mann, I believe she may have actually been talking about Jones himself, saying, "He helped define an era. And a generation. And he helped us laugh at ourselves." Those are traits every entertainer would want to hear about one's self.

Until next time, raise your sticks high in honour of James Earl Jones!