James Earl Jones' Agonizing Final Years: How Booming-Voiced Actor Behind Darth Vader Secretly Battled Torturous Illness That Devastated Him Like 'Thunderbolt' Strike

For decades he carved out a career playing unshakable villains.

But RadarOnline.com can reveal booming-voiced James Earl Jones spent his final years rattled by his battle with type 2 diabetes.

The hard man of cinema, famed for his thunderous baritone, was shaken to his core when he was stricken with the disease, the diagnosis of which he was struck him "like a thunderbolt”

A rep for the actor, who was best known for voicing Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in Disney 's The Lion King , confirmed he died Monday at his home surrounded by family. His cause of death has not been announced at this time.

In 2018, Jones opened up about his health and how the "shock" of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes changed his life during an appearance on The Rachael Ray Show .

He told the TV chef turned talkshow host: "I was lucky that it was discovered as it was quite by accident. I was in a centre for weight control and diet, trying to lose some weight and I fell asleep on the bench in the middle of the gymnasium one day.

"The Doctor who was there said 'that's not normal', and he encouraged me to go and get checked out. Then I got a test and there it was, type 2 diabetes. It hit me like a thunderbolt."

Type 2 diabetes causes the level of sugar (glucose) in the blood to become dangerously high. Individuals living with type 2 diabetes are often asked to make lifestyle changes, such as diet, in addition to routine medical check-ups to manage the condition.

The EGOT winner said his diagnosis made him re-evaluate his lifestyle habits and focus on his health, especially as he grew older.

He said: "I had to retrain myself to be aware of when my body is telling me something. Usually with low blood sugar, it's easy to notice. With high blood sugar, it's not as easy, and that can be the most dangerous aspect of type 2 diabetes."

Though the diagnosis initially caught Jones off guard, he confessed his mother was also diagnosed with the disease and as a result, he should have been "alerted" to the possibility that one day he could be diagnosed too.

He admitted: "Older people are at risk, my mother had it. So I should've been alerted, but no. One thing I thought was, 'It's never gonna happen to me.' So when it was discovered, it was by accident. I feel lucky."

Thanks to a supportive crew – including his manager, his son and late wife, Cecilia Hart, who passed away from ovarian cancer in 2016 – Jones managed to overhaul his diet and manage his symptoms.

He explained: "My wife, my manager, and my assistant — who's also my son — are always there to support me and make sure I'm eating the healthiest I can. I don't leave home without my son."

While the disease changed his life, he still had a zest for living and continued acting.

Jones said: "I love working, and at my age I still love being able to put in eight shows a week on a play or handle a long schedule if I'm doing film or television. I didn't want that to stop, so I had to take responsibility for my condition. It’s more important that I address diabetes, because I will always be a diabetic."

Over the course of his career, Jones won three Tony awards, two Emmy awards and a Grammy.

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