James Earl Jones never intended to live in Pawling, NY — where he had a home for 50 years and died this week.
The acclaimed actor died at the age of 93 on Monday, August 9, at his home in a small town about 70 miles north of New York, his agent confirmed to PEOPLE.
Born Arkabutla, Miss. she lived in the town for more than 50 years, having bought a property there in the 1970s following a fateful visit with a friend.
According to a 2012 profile he published Poughkeepsie Journal, Jones first came through when a friend from New Jersey who was looking for a new, bigger home invited him on a house hunting trip upstate.
Kevin Costner remembers Field of dreams Costar James Earl Jones: ‘Only he could bring that kind of magic’
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The friend ended up not buying the land he was looking at, but Jones did.
“I loved it,” Jones told the outlet at the time, praising its “Big trees … they were big enough to hug.”
He put down his own roots in the area and would make his home there for the next 50 years until his death. (He also owned a home in Los Angeles, according to The New York Times.) During that time, he raised his son, Flynn, in Pawling, and began buying properties adjacent to his original lot, according to Realtor.com, eventually amassing 10 lots.
According to information obtained by the site, some of Jones’ reported purchases include a property sold for $16,500 in 1993; two in 1994, for $108,000 and $177,500; and another for $320,000 in 2000.
How James Earl Jones left young stars Sandlot Speechless during his 1 day on set
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The Appalachian Trail in Pawling, NY
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But the star did not only invest in real estate. He also gave back to a small community of just under 2,000 inhabitants.
The Magazine notes that he was involved in raising funds for his son’s alma mater, the Poughkeepsie Day School, and participated in the Young Playwrights Festival at the Bardavon Opera House in 1869.
A former Dutchess County official who knew Jones remembered his neighbor well in an obituary published by midhudsonnews.com.
“Yes, he was a celebrity, but he was the most genuine person you would ever want to meet. There was nothing fake about the man,” said Pawling native Dave Gamache. “He loved Pawling, he really loved Pawling, and he loved people. He was active in the community.”
Despite his star status, Gamache adds, he was “just as nice, wonderful and sweet a person as he was at the top of his profession.”
Jones was not the only famous resident of the area. Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates calls Pawling home and owns a restaurant and music club there called Daryl’s House.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan and his wife Hilarie Burton and Paul Rudd call Rhinebeck home. The actors are even co-owners of the local candy store Samuel’s Sweet Shop.
Other stars who have lived nearby include The Cars’ Ric Ocasek and Paulina Porzikova, Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson, Katie Couric and Mary Tyler Moore.
James Earl Jones only made $7,000 as Darth Vader in the movie First Star Wars. Then, ‘I thought it was good money’
Jones is best known for his role as Darth Vader in the film Star Wars movies and Mufasa in The lion king. In recent years, he acted in productions On the Golden Pond, Cat on a hot tin roofand Much ado about nothingwhich starred Vanessa Redgrave. In 2012, Jones received his fourth Tony nomination The best man.
In his decades-long career, he never lost his passion for storytelling.
“I’d like to play anything that gives me the opportunity to learn about people who are truly different from me,” he once told PEOPLE. “I want to say as much as possible about how I feel about myself — not my black self or my American self, but my real self.”
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