Friday 15 March 2013

GOODBYE, MALACHI THRONE...

Versatile American actor Malachi Throne.

Younger viewers/readers may be wondering who Malachi Throne is, and what the late actor, who sadly passed away earlier in the month, contributed to the STAR WARS universe. Well, he may not have been in the actual classic films themselves, but this fine American character actor of film and TV (particularly well remembered for his appearances in hit genre series of the sixties and seventies, like the original STAR TREK and THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN) was a supreme voice-over artist for animated series (like the nineties THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES) and movie trailers, bringing his powerfiul and commanding Orson Welles-like voice to bear with the first iconic STAR WARS teaser trailer of 76/77, telling us of "a boy, a girl and a universe", then following it up in 1983 for the exciting, epic conclusion that was originally known as REVENGE OF THE JEDI.

Mister Throne's work in promoting these beloved films was a major standout of our Classic Trilogy childhood...

Star Wars - Episode IV - Trailer (original 1977) - YouTube
Star Wars Revenge of the Jedi Trailer Rare - YouTube


UPDATE 17/3/2013

Reader Shawn Poole kindly got in touch with some additional info:

FYI, Malachi Throne has another link to the STAR WARS Saga for many of us "first-generation" fans. Back before most of could easily enjoy the STAR WARS films on home-video, the next best thing was the series of vinyl-LP versions of the Original Trilogy films, which told a condensed version of each ones story using edited sections of the film soundtrack (including dialogue, music and sound effects.) The last of this series, entitled THE STORY OF STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI, had no narration whatsoever - just an edited, audio-only version of the film itself. The previous two LPs in the series, however, each featured distinct narrators to help move the story along as their narration was combined with the film's audio snippets. The LP for Ep. IV, entitled THE STORY OF STAR WARS, was narrated by the late, great Roscoe Lee Browne. The LP for Ep. V, entitled THE ADVENTURES OF LUKE SKYWALKER: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, was narrated by Malachi Throne. As of this writing, some copies of the Throne-narrated LP remain available at reasonable prices on Amazon.com:


1 comment:

Todd and Christie said...

I'm a little late to the party here, I know. I loved Malachi Throne in Robert Wagner's series "To Catch a Thief", which I still watch religiously. RIP