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The late James Earl Jones left an indelible mark on popular American culture. His biggest roles as the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in the Lion King, and playing Author Terrance Mann in Field of Dreams. Yet, as the Internet has been flooded with James Earl Jones clips, the breadth of his impact on so many cultural areas have become apparent: performing the Alphabet on Sesame Street in the 1960s, delivering a recitation of The Star Spangled Banner at the 1993 all-star game to his guest-appearance on The Big Bang Theory. And beyond these widely known appearances, he left a remarkable impression in small roles such as his scenes in The Sandlot or in obscure parts. For example, I remember him as Chief Thad Green on the PBS educational Dragnet Pastiche, Mathnet. There was so much that the Emmy, Tony, and Grammy-winning Jones did in his career.
Yet, there was one medium that Jones barely worked in. Despite having one of the most magnificent voices of his generation, he rarely appeared in audio dramas. In a career that stretched from 1950s-2020s, I could only confirm four audio drama appearances by Jones. The last of these was in 2020 when starred opposite Angela Lansbury in the Audible Original production of Driving Miss Daisy.
Jones missed the apex of the Golden Age of Radio. By the time he made his Broadway debut in 1957, radio drama was in decline and the Golden Age of Network radio would end on September 30, 1962 with CBS’ cancellation of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar and Suspense.
Despite this, Jones did appear on the radio before any of his most-famous roles. In 1964, ABC began airing the New York-based anthology radio drama series Theater Five. The series aired five days a week and episodes were from various genres. You might hear a mystery on one day, a comedy on another, a science fiction tale the next day, and a drama the day after that. Actors appearing in the series included those who’d worked during the Golden Age of Radio and actors from the stage and soap operas that were produced in New York City.
Jones appearance on Theater Five was a coup for both the radio series and Jones. Jones had established himself as one of New York’s best stage actors in both Shakespearean and contemporary roles and could be counted on to turn in a great performance. Although he had made his film debut in Doctor Strangelove and had gotten an Emmy nomination for a guest appearance on the short-lived TV series East-West, Jones was relatively unknown out of New York. Theater Five was syndicated on 100 stations throughout US and would offer Jones exposure to audiences who never heard him before.
Paired with veteran character James McCallion, Jones played a desperate young man who enters a roadside diner with a gun in “Incident on U.S. 1” which first aired on May 4, 1965. The drama is generally ranked among the best of the series by Theater Five aficionados.
A young man (James Earl Jones) gets more than he bargains for when he holds up a diner near the highway.
Original Air Date: May 4, 1965
Starring: James Earl Jones, James McCallion, Robert Dryden
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Theater Five 60th Anniversary Set: https://sites.google.com/view/theatre-5-60th-anniversary-set/home
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