James Earl Jones had one of the most recognizable voices in the world, but as a child he remained silent for years because he struggled with a stutter.

Jones, a prolific actor who voiced Darth Vader in Star Wars, died on Monday, September 9, at the age of 93.

Fans who heard his booming baritone and elegant diction may have been surprised to learn that he suffered from a speech impediment since childhood.

“I have no problem talking about my stuttering because it’s just another example of having a weak muscle, exercising it, and sometimes it becomes a strong muscle,” Jones told KCRA in 1986.

“I was mute from first grade to freshman year of high school – mute because I simply gave up speaking.”

He talked to animals, but it was “too embarrassing and too painful” to talk to people, Jones told TODAY in 2001.

After not speaking for eight years, Jones needed a way to express himself, he added, which ultimately led to an acting career.

His ability to speak again was thanks to his high school English teacher, Donald Crouch. Crouch discovered that Jones wrote poems and told him they were so good that he had to prove them by reciting them aloud in front of the class.

“And I didn’t stutter,” Jones recalled in the TODAY interview. That put him on the path to regaining his speech.

Jones graduated from high school with a degree, went on to attend the University of Michigan, and enjoyed an acting career spanning seven decades on stage and screen.

But stuttering was always a part of his life.

“You never really get over it – you just learn to deal with it,” the actor told TODAY.

“I still stutter, by the way. I’m not saying I’m cured. I still stutter. I’m just working with it,” he told NPR in 2014.

The famous voice has limits, he told Dick Cavett.

“Because I’ve been stuttering for so long in my development, I can’t have spontaneous conversations,” Jones said. “For example, I can’t be a facilitator, that’s impossible for me. I can’t string ideas and words together very well.”

What causes stuttering?

About 3 million Americans stutter, and up to 10% of children have the speech disorder at some point, but most outgrow it, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. President Biden, for example, has spoken openly about his stuttering as a child.

Stuttering most commonly occurs in children when they are learning to speak, but the problem can also occur after a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or other type of brain injury.

The person knows what he or she wants to say but speaks incoherently, which includes repetition of sounds, syllables or words, the institute notes.

The exact cause is not yet known, but stuttering can run in the family.

The Stuttering Foundation of America counts Nicole Kidman, Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis among the many celebrities who suffered from a speech impediment.

A cure is not possible, but treatment and therapy can help bring the disease under control.