SUITING UP! THE 'OTHER' THREEPIO - PETER KURAN

Peter Kuran (left) and Charles Lippincott (right) assist Anthony Daniels as Threepio during the now legendary Mann's Chinese Theatre cement signing in Summer 1977.

Best known as one of the icon ILM talents of the Original Trilogy, notably linked to the animation/ rotoscoping, especially for the lightsabers and energy weapon blasts work, Peter Kuran would be a key help outside his work sphere during 1977-78, as an assistant-of-sorts to Anthony Daniels with his costumed American appearance in Summer 1977 at the famous Mann's Chinese Theater signing, and, with a similar body frame to Daniels at that time, even occupying the golden droid costume for a fashion shoot for Vogue magazine, presumably as the actor was not available at that time to do it. It's also likely that Kuran was Threepio for the posed merchandise poster photos captured by Bob Seidemann that were also taken circa Summer 1977 States-side.

Peter Kuran (middle) observes Lucas (also watched by Patricia Rose Duignan) as he surveys effects shots footage for the original Star Wars at ILM.

Peter Kuran donning the Threepio costume for additional Landspeeder filming, taken for the original Star Wars in California by ILM, early 1977.

As film publicity continued States-side, Kuran might also have assumed the Threepio suit for this Wars/Fox related publicity shoot too, linked to a unique giveaway themed Toyota motor vehicle:

The Mystery of the Lost Star Wars Toyota Celica GT | News | Car and Driver

The classic 1977 Vogue magazine shoot, also featuring a Jawa, Darth Vader and Snaggletooth!

Vogue magazine shoot 1977

With Jerry Hall (right).

Classic signed photo to Kuran from Anthony Daniels. Image: via Peter Kuran/ Facebook.

And another on the art used for the Coca Cola tie-in campaign. Image: via Peter Kuran/ Facebook.

GOODBYE, CHARLES LIPPINCOTT...

Charles Lippincott, the key man responsible for selling the original film to the sci-fi community in 1976/77.

As anyone reading this site will know, the original Star Wars in its all creative and production phases over 1975 to 1977 was seemingly going to be a tough sell to audiences, or so believed the people at Twentieth Century Fox, who thought the film was destined to be a flop. Fortunately, its writer/director George Lucas and producer Gary Kurtz had a secret weapon up their sleevies in selling and marketing their unique film, not just to generic audiences but to the sceptical sci-fi community worldwide: Charles Lippincott, a genuine star on the rise Wunderkid who would be instrumental in getting many major and very press worthy merchandise deals done prior to and during the film's release, would cleverly build up interest in key magazine/newspaper sectors, interview/look after the film's young (and sometimes wild) stars across various international press jaunts, and be just a solid, reliable, trusted presence to Lucasfilm in the crazy worlds of Hollywood and the movie-making system.

With Kermit Eller as Darth Vader at the famous Chinese Theatre footprints event - Summer 1977.

No stranger to sci-fi/fantasy, having worked on Westworld a few years earlier than Star Wars, for MGM, Lippincott's talents in advertising and marketing, and his interest in the genre, were to be equally well used on subsequent projects like the original, and terrifying Alien (also for FOX), the colourful 1981 Sam Jones-starring version of Flash Gordon, and producer of Sylvester Stallone's nineties take on the UK comic antihero Judge Dredd.

Lippincott in his later years, and still with that classic T-shirt 1976 McQuarrie logo shirt. Image: Facebook.

Talented, insightful, opinionated, but most of all dedicated and an all-round nice guy, Lippincott, who had a lively and very informative social media presence these last few years as one of the definitive paperwork holding/remembrances historian of the original Star Wars, will be greatly missed by the SW fan community and film fans worldwide...

Joe Johnston's early idea for the first Star Wars promotional booth at the 1976 Comic Con, presumably concepted with Lippincott's input.

https://www.starwars.com/news/charley-lippincott?fbclid=IwAR0B3qqFpVyqrKGxWeXfKnCGC6DsZg-YM8GFc9rmyu1DDOYbDbJ08hNknlg

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/charles-lippincott-star-wars-a-new-hope-publicist-dead-dies-1234612584/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/charles-lippincott-dead-star-wars-publicity-mastermind-was-80-1295384

GOODBYE, GARY KURTZ - A PHOTO TRIBUTE (PART ONE)

Ready to capture the next scene: the late Gary Kurtz at Shepperton Studios in 1976 for Star Wars.

In my eyes, and despite the many problems and hurdles of getting the Classic Trilogy to the screen, Gary Kurtz was the best producer of the entire Star Wars saga by far- the man who was there almost from its conception alongside writer/creator George Lucas (officially hired on the production in early 1975), having first met in 1970 through mutual friend Francis Ford Coppola (when Lucas needed someone with military experiences (Kurtz having been a former marine in Vietnam) linked to his ultimately abandoned version of Apocalypse Now), and whom was to prove himself a keen, meticulous, intelligent and respectful custodian of it during and after its release, and especially when it went on to become a phenomenon. Gary Kurtz sadly passed away last Sunday 23rd September after a year-long battle with cancer. We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends, and all fans worldwide will miss yet celebrate his presence linked to the still-evolving franchise legacy which he helped cement.

Classic interview footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmhjvkj8_aw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kt7RCD5oSw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZAYE_ROc9o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ8C3vVvS64

French 1977 TV interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsBwI99OZ_0

Retrospective (2017):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quRtCcieNm8&t=882s

As AFICIONADO Editor, I got to meet Mister Kurtz four times over the course of ten years and always found him a well-mannered, professional and very interesting man, if still coming across as a little shy at times. Over those four encounters in halls and behind convention tables, I probably asked him way too many behind the scenes questions needed to fill out the blanks in the behind the scenes history of the original Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back than I should have, but he always responded in kind and in such great detail that proved enlightening and fascinating. We really, truly don't appreciate how difficult it was getting those first two films made back in the day, and his contribution to preserving the films by the time they were relaunched with The Special Editions in 1997.

The Kurtz/Joiner Archive tribute:
https://www.fanthatracks.com/news/film-music-tv/gary-kurtz-1940-2018/

Recent tributes:

https://www.starwars.com/news/gary-kurtz-passes-away

https://variety.com/2018/film/news/gary-kurtz-dead-dies-star-wars-1202954316/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/gary-kurtz-dead-star-wars-producer-dies-at-78-1146427

As a tribute to the late producer, AFICIONADO presents a two-part photo selection of him at work primarily from 1976 to 1980, in which we've tried where possible to pick images that haven't been as seen or as well used in comparison to those many out there on other tribute pages. We hope you enjoy them. Thank you, Gary Kurtz, for being one of the most important makers and enthusiasts of movie magic!

A fine creative partnership- Kurtz and Lucas circa 1973.

With Sir Alec and Lady Merula Guinness on location for Star Wars in March 1976.

With daughters Tiffany and Melissa as Jawas, alongside wife Meredith, on location in Tunisia, behind the Jawa Sandcrawler scaffold prop- March 1976. 

On location for the filming of Tatooine's Dune Sea sequence.

With Lucas and UK cinematographer Gil Taylor behind the camera.

The on-location Artoo Detoo three legged prop designed to be pulled on piano/fishing wire.

With the UK camera crew and assistant directors at Star Wars Canyon.

Celebrating Sir Alec Guinness's April 1976 birthday in Djerba, near the end of location filming.

Filming Luke's deleted scene arrival at Tosche Station. Image: Kurtz/Joiner Archive.

Together at Shepperton Studios for the May 1976 medal ceremony shooting.

With stars Hamill and Ford at Shepperton between takes. Image: Kurtz/Joiner Archive.

Ever the talented lensman, Kurtz takes many key publicity images from the floor during filming.

Back in the US at ILM late 1976, enjoying the promising dailies effects footage with the youthful team.

Capturing some now classic masked alien reference images- January 1977.

Checking over to-be-released publicity images with Charles Lippincott (far right).

Checking an image that may need cropping before release.

The now pop culture history Mann's Chinese Theatre footsteps cementing event from Summer 1977, of Gary Kurtz with a presumed Kermit Eller as Darth Vader.

Anthony Daniels as C-3PO signs next.

And the remote controlled R2-D2 prop.

On the long and gruelling promotional tour of the US and International territories of 1977.

Previous AFICIONADO coverage:
https://starwarsaficionado.blogspot.com/search/label/GARY%20KURTZ

'STAR WARS' BEGINS! A LOOK BACK TO 'MIDAMERICON' 1976

Mark Hamill wearing the classic McQuarrie The Star Wars T-shirt in 1976.

Superb footage has recently materialized online via FANAC Fan History from the now legendary MidAmeriCon II - World Science Fiction Convention 34 event in Kansas City of 1976, featuring a high-spirited Mark Hamill, informative producer Gary Kurtz and the film's dedicated publicist Charles Lippincott talking about the upcoming Star Wars. It's a wonderful look back to an innocent and fascinating time when the film had to be sold, yes sold, to American sci-fi and fantasy audiences, a lot of whom seemed jaded by genre films since the enlightening 2001: A Space Odyssey.

A year later, things were to prove a lot different...

Lippincott, Kurtz and Hamill.

Footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmhjvkj8_aw

Charles Lippncott interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoKK-aFcQIg

With thanks to Chris Baker and starwarsarchives.com for the heads-up

AN IMPORTANT POINT OF VIEW: CHARLES LIPPINCOTT LOOKS BACK ON 'STAR WARS'

A striking unused B/W poster concept for the original STAR WARS. Image: via Charles Lippincott's FACEBOOK page.

One of the original STAR WARS greatest allies on its path to cinematic realisation had to be its young and dedicated publicist Charles Lippincott. Lippincott was the man, as advertising/publicity supervisor, who helped sell the concept of a sci-fi/fantasy adventure to a blinkered film studio and a world audience at that time, in the seventies, when this particular genre was pretty much dead and buried thanks to a wave of dark-edged anti-hero thrillers and big-budget, big-starred disaster movies. George Lucas's production, though seemingly considered small budget at the nine million dollar mark, filming in the UK with at first little or no interest from the entertainment industry, was nonetheless a complex affair to organise in concept and practical execution, alongside the job of getting the film's vital visual effects and post production schedule on course and conceiving the film's unique flavour in all kinds of advertising and publicity, from posters to TV advertising, and eventual spin-off merchandise. Lippincott to a very large degree was involved in all these areas, and more, as well as providing many of the key of-their-time publicity interviews with Hamill, Ford, Fisher and co. later to be unearthed by Lucasfilm's Don Bies and J.W. Rinzler for the latter's acclaimed THE MAKING OF STAR WARS book of 2007 (now available in revised e-book form).

Lippincott (centre) in 1977, with FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine legend Forrest J. Ackerman (left) and Shel Dorf (right).  Photo by Alan Light.

Previously self-removed for the most part from the STAR WARS universe until around five or six years ago, Lippincott has made a welcome return presence and created a unique FACEBOOK page on the genesis and evolution behind the scenes of the first film, before it became A New Hope, putting up some rare, incredible imagery, artworks (like the one above) and production paperwork in his quest to debunk some of the now classic, and incorrect, behind the scenes mythos on the making of that first film between 1975 and 1977 that have evolved over the years. Having also been involved in publicity for the next FOX- backed sci-fi project, the equally iconic ALIEN, and buying the rights to the UK's 2000 AD comic character of almost vigilante future super-cop JUDGE DREDD, who eventually made his way to cinema screens first in 1995 with Sylvester Stallone in the title role, Lippincott's FACEBOOK page is an essential "Like" and "Follow"- a genuine treasure trove of memories and nostalgia to savour and celebrate.

Star Wars marketing man Charles Lippincott on the real force behind the franchise's success | The Drum

FACEBOOK PAGE: Charles Lippincott