James Earl Jones Had A Delayed Diagnosis Of Type 2 Diabetes Decades Before His Death

September 20, 2024
James Earl Jones’ exact cause of death remains unknown while details of his type 2 diabetes diagnosis resurface.
James Earl Jones passed away earlier this month at the age of 93. His cause of death remains unknown while details of his type 2 diabetes diagnosis resurface.
The EGOT recipient lived with diabetes for many years before his Sept. 9 passing. Jones opened up about his late diabetes diagnosis during a 2016 appearance on The Rachael Ray Show. He was already well into his 60s when he learned he had been living with the chronic disease for years.
“I fell asleep on a bench in the middle of the gymnasium one day,” Jones explained. “And a doctor who was there said, ‘That’s not normal,’ and he encouraged me to go get checked out.”
After a visit to the doctor, a lab test confirmed that Jones had type 2 diabetes. He admits the diagnosis came as a shock and “hit me like a thunderbolt,” he told Healthline at the time. But it eventually led to a complete lifestyle change for Jones and his entire family.
“I realized when I was diagnosed with diabetes, my whole family became diabetics,” he shared. “Not that they suffer the same things that I do, but they understand, and we have to work as a family in living with diabetes. They became my support group, as well as my doctors.”
It was an illness that ran in his family, with his mother and some other family members having had type 2 diabetes. Jones also knew that certain ethnic groups were more at risk than others.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 38.1 million American adults had diabetes in 2021. Over one-fifth of these individuals were living with undiagnosed diabetes. The highest rate of diagnosed diabetes is found among American Indian or Alaska Native adults, followed by Black, Hispanic, and Asian adults, with white adults having the lowest rate.
Jones was diagnosed in his 60s, a common age group among new diabetes diagnoses.
“Diabetes and other age-related diseases like obesity and abnormal cholesterol are more prevalent as we get older,” said Noa Tal, MD, an endocrinologist of the Pituitary Disorders Center at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, California.
It’s also not uncommon for diabetes to go unnoticed before finally being diagnosed.
“Unfortunately, [type 2 diabetes] does go under the radar sometimes,” Tal adds.
Once Jones was aware of his diabetes, it took help from his wife and son to keep him on track and accountable for his eating habits.
“There were tough changes, like not having my favorite strawberry shortcake,” he shared. “My wife and son helped me, keeping a close eye on everything and being watchdogs. They’ve both helped keep me in line.”
Jones was best known for his roles in Field of Dreams, The Lion King, and Star Wars. He served as a trailblazer in Hollywood and became one of the first African American actors to play a recurring role in a daytime drama in 1965 (As the World Turns).
He enjoyed a career that spanned well into his 80s and earned numerous accolades, including two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, and the Kennedy Center Honors. He also received an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theatre was renamed in his honor.
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