Ed Balls hails James Earl Jones and the way he managed his stammer
Ed Balls has hailed legendary voice actor James Earl Jones and how he managed his stammer in an emotional tribute to the Star Wars star after his death aged 93.
The award-winning actor, best known for voicing two of cinema’s most iconic characters: Star Wars’ Darth Vader and The Lion King’s Mufasa – sadly passed away on Monday.
The screen icon rose not only from humble beginnings in Depression-era Mississippi, but he also overcame a speech impediment as well.
He originally thought his stutter was a ‘curse’ as children in school would ‘fall to the floor in laughter’ when he spoke but he didn’t let that stop him.
He often credited his English teacher – and poet – Donald Crouch who truly helped him through and had him stand in front of the class and read out his poetry.
Today, Good Morning Britain presenter Ed Balls, 57, – whose own speech impediment was famously mocked by David Cameron in the Commons in 2012 – paid tribute to the actor and praised Jones’ journey.
The Field of Dreams and Lion King star and voice of Darth Vader passed away on September 9
Jones lent his legendary vocals to Star Wars super-villain Darth Vader – including the famed ‘Luke, I am your father scene’ with Mark Hamill
James Earl Jones and Mark Hamill pictured attending the 2017 Tony Awards together
Today, Good Morning Britain presenter Ed Balls, 57, – whose own speech impediment was famously mocked by David Cameron in the Commons in 2012 – paid tribute to the actor
He said on GMB: ‘When he got in to character he could perform these amazing speech lines.
‘But in all of his personal life he was dealing with his – Americans call it stammer – we call it stutter.
‘It’s amazing how he managed it in his life, in his 90 years, and went on to be one of the great film voice actors of all time.
‘With a stammer, you really can do anything.’
By the time he went to study drama at the University of Michigan, Jones had enough of a handle on his stuttering, though it never fully went away for good.
The actor previously said that the stuttering continued when he started school, and it got so bad, ‘that I gave up trying to speak properly.’
‘There was another pupil who sat behind me who was also a stutterer and the teacher, who was young, would shake him, and I’d say, ‘L-l-lll-l-let me teach him’ and I took over his studies, or when he had to talk. I understood him. I understood that shaking him was not going to help. She was relieved,’ Jones added.
Jones with his Tony Award in 1987 for his role in the play Fences – seen with Linda Lavin
Even into his 80s, Jones was a force on Broadway, starring opposite Angela Lansbury in The Best Man in a 2012 revival (pictured) – earning another Tony nomination in the process
In 1982, he married actress Cecilia Hart, with whom he had a son, Flynn. Hart died from ovarian cancer on October 16, 2016 – pictured 1994
The one teacher that truly helped him though was an English teacher and poet Mr Crouch, who Jones called ‘the father of my voice.’
‘He was a contemporary of Robert Frost, and memorised a poem every day in case he ever went blind so he might have poems he could read in his head.
‘I had started writing poetry in high school and he said of one of them, ‘Jim, this is a good poem. In fact, it is so good I don’t think you wrote it. I think you plagiarised it. If you want to prove you wrote it, you must stand in front of the class and recite it by memory’.
‘Which I did. As they were my own words, I got through it,’ Jones revealed in September.
The teacher said that if Jones was interested in being ‘involved with words,’ he would have to say them in front of the class and work on his stuttering.
His teacher argued that if he wanted to be ‘involved with words’ he would have to be able to say them and read to the class and work on the stuttering problem.
His distinctive gravelly tones saw him voice iconic lion Mufasa in the animated 1994 classic, The Lion King
Mark famously played the role of Luke Skywalker (pictured left) in the sci-fi film series, with the character later discovered to be the long-lost son of enemy Darth Vader – voiced by Jones
Following the announcement of the icon’s passing, Mark took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share an article about the news and to write the short tribute – referring their on-screen father and son relationship
‘And he got me engaged in the debating class, the dramatic reading class and so on. He got me talking, and reading poetry – Edgar Allan Poe was my favourite.’
GMB presenter Ed has previously discussed his experiences of having a stammer recalling a ‘decade-long struggle’ with his speech.
Ed first revealed he had struggled with a stammer in an 2011 article with the Times, revealing he faced a daily battle to deliver his words and had to memorise all his speeches because he could not read a script.
In an attempt to overcome his stammer, Ed said he memorised 15 speeches a week and when he appears to have forgotten his lines, it is just that his voice has frozen.
Ed said at the time: ‘You just have to be yourself whatever you do. It doesn’t cause me a problem as Secretary of State, although there are times when it is tough.
‘The worst thing you can do is try and stop it. That’s when you trip up. It happens to me on live TV.
‘Some people speak without notes because they think it looks better. Some people do it because they think it leads to a better speech. But I can’t read the words out.’
In 2016, Ed spoke frankly for the first time about his ‘decade-long struggle’ with a stammer and how then-Prime Minister David Cameron’s taunts led him to go public with his affliction (pictured in 2008)
In his book, Speaking Out: Lessons in Life and Politics, Ed recalled how Mr Cameron would lead the jeering from the Commons front bench – and nicknamed him ‘Blinky Balls’ (George Osborne, left, and David Cameron pictured in 2012)
At the time, the British Stammering Association announced that Ed had become a patron of the association.
Its chief executive, Norbert Lieckfeldt, commended him for talking about his stammer in public.
He later admitted he didn’t know he had one until he was ‘already in the Cabinet’ and found out he had issues speaking publicly in certain situations.
During an interview with the Independent in 2021, he said: ‘When I was selected to be an MP in 2004, I spoke to my dad after BBC Any Questions? and he said, ‘You’ve got the same as me but I don’t know what it is’.
‘I spent two or three years trying to find out what it was and trying to work out how to handle the fact that sometimes my speeches dried up in TV interviews and in the House of Commons.’
In 2016, Ed spoke frankly about his ‘decade-long struggle’ with a stammer and how then-Prime Minister David Cameron’s taunts led him to go public with his affliction.
The former shadow chancellor said he was not actually diagnosed with the condition – which caused him to seize up during speeches and debates – until he was 41.
In the Commons a year later, as schools secretary, he tried to read a statement – ‘but for seconds, I couldn’t say anything’ (pictured in 2011)
In his book, Speaking Out: Lessons in Life and Politics, he recalls how Cameron would lead the jeering from the Commons front bench – and nicknamed him ‘Blinky Balls’.
The jibes eventually persuaded Ed to publicly reveal his problem – at first in a newspaper article, and then in a radio interview after which, he admits, the ‘tears welled up’.
He first noticed his stutter when appointed to his first ministerial job in 2006. In every TV interview ‘there was at least one moment when my voice would seize up and my eyes stare as I clenched my throat and fist,’ he wrote.
‘It didn’t take long for people to pick up on it. I learnt I’d acquired the nickname ‘Blinky Balls’ in Conservative Central Office, supposedly courtesy of Cameron.
‘As the Tories got a chance to see me up close across the dispatch box, a new phenomenon started: If I hesitated when answering a question, they’d shout ‘Errrr’, which made me hesitate more, and the laughter and mocking Errrr’s would grow louder.’
In the Commons a year later, as schools secretary, he tried to read a statement – ‘but for seconds, I couldn’t say anything. As I eventually sat down, I heard the late, great Gwyneth Dunwoody say in a very loud voice: ‘He’s supposed to be the Secretary of State and he can’t even get his words out’.’
When one of his aides suggested he consult the website of the British Stammering Association, his first instinct was to think: ‘Why am I reading this? I don’t have a stammer.’
But he was diagnosed with an ‘interiorised stammer’, commonly known as a block. ‘I thought: ‘Here I am, aged 41, a Cabinet Minister, and I’ve only just found out I’ve got a stammer,’ he recalled. The aide put him in touch with a therapist.
‘I’m ashamed to say I was both sceptical and a bit worried at the prospect,’ said Ed. ‘It all felt a bit Cherie Blair and Carole Caplin.’
The therapist taught him to slow his speaking tempo, ‘calm down and get in control’. He was also advised to go public with his problem but he feared it might be seen as a sign of weakness.
Ed previously revealed that he went to speech therapy every week for three years until he was able to manage the ‘block’.
