Broadway Theater To Be Renamed After Trailblazing Actor James Earl Jones

From the silver screen to the Broadway stage, legendary actor James Earl Jones has tapped into the power of his craft to bring forth memorable and compelling stories. The Mississippi native is receiving a special honor for his contributions to the arts. According to Deadline, New York’s Cort Theatre was recently renamed after Jones.

James Earl Jones Theatre Coming To Broadway As Shubert Organization Renames 110-Year-Old Cort https://t.co/035b6WgJpm

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) March 2, 2022

The 110-year-old theater—which has served as the backdrop for noteworthy productions that include As You Like It, Sunday in New York and Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee’s Purlie Victorious—is the performance space where Jones made his Broadway theatrical debut. In 1958, he starred in the Cort Theatre’s Sunrise at Campobello; a play that captured former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s battle with polio disease.

Throughout his career—which spans over 70 years—he was cast in several Broadway productions including The Cool World, Danton’s Death, A Hand is on the Gate and Les Blancs. He was also featured in Of Mice and Men, Paul Robeson, Othello, Fences, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and most recently The Gin Game in which he starred alongside the late trailblazing actress Cicely Tyson. He’s acted in 21 Broadway shows, two of which were at the Cort Theatre. The institution is overseen by the Shubert Organization which is the nation’s oldest professional theater company.

The revered actor—who has reached EGOT status—says he’s honored to be celebrated by the theater and seeing his name up in lights at an institution that helped launch his career is a full-circle moment. “For me standing in this very building sixty-four years ago at the start of my Broadway career, it would have been inconceivable that my name would be on the building today,” James said in a statement. “Let my journey from then to now be an inspiration for all aspiring actors.”

Robert E. Wankel, who serves as CEO and Board Chair of the Shubert Organization added James is an “icon in the theater community, the Black community, and the American community—forever in Broadway’s lights.” When the theater opens this summer, the organization will host a renaming ceremony.

News about Jones’ honor comes as 2022 has been a monumental year for Black actors on Broadway; a testament to how James’ presence on the stage decades ago opened up the door for generations of thespians. Earlier this year, Brittney Johnson became the first Black woman to take on the role of Glinda in the musical Wicked. Fellow actress Emilie Kouatchou became the first Black woman to portray Christine Daae in Phantom of the Opera.

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