'JEDI' AT 40: PARTY TIME WITH MAX REBO AND THE BAND!

Slightly different outtake to the standard publicity released image.

Every night is party night at Jabba the Hutt's palace, and what better way to celebrate his ongoing criminal activities and continuous profit-making than a performance from Max Rebo and his music trio, performing the sensational and irreplaceable number 'Lapti Nek' to the great worm ridden filth of a gangster, alongside a special dancing performance to her master from his number one Twi'lek slave girl, Oola.

Created by the ILM team in California across Summer to Winter 1981, Rebo, horn/saxophone player Droopy McCool and singer Sy Snootles would be shipped to England for filming at Elstree for mid to late January 1982 onwards.

Original Max Rebo maquette.

Maquette with his electronic organ equipment.

The creature costume under construction at ILM.

Getting a paint job from Phil Tippett.

The costume and prop organ now arrived at the UK.

Positioned ion set for filming within Jabba's Palace.

Phil Tippett at Elstree supervises the puppet.

Filming the band on the Throne Room set at Elstree in January/February 1982.

Close-up filming.

With a drunk Bib Fortuna in a deleted scene moment conceived by David Tomblin with a second unit.

Richard Marquand gives on-set instructions.

Droopy McCool (Deep Roy) and Max Rebo (Simon Williamson) on the Throne Room set between takes.

Droopy McCool- a true musical talent!

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: DEEP ROY IS YODA!

With one distance shot needing Yoda walking, actor Deep Roy (then best known for UK film and TV work on popular series like Doctor Who, Blake's 7 and The New Avengers) is called into wear a specially made Yoda mask and costume for the brief moment. Roy had also doubled a month before as Artoo for an X-wing fighter cockpit scene also filmed at Elstree with Mark Hamill, after Kenny Baker had not been available. Associate Producer Robert Watts would also be on set assisting with the sequence.

Filming day call sheet.

Deep Roy prepares for filming as Yoda's feet are readied for him to wear.

As seen on screen. Image: via Star Wars Archives website.

EPISODE VII: DEEP ROY's RETURN! UPDATED 8/7/15

Deep Roy on the Dagobah set for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

It must have been an incredibly surreal and funny moment when, on the set of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK in 1979, British small size actor Deep Roy was told, probably for the first time, that he was too tall to play a diminutive role! But that's exactly what happened when he stepped into the face and costume of Master Yoda for one important distant walking scene needed at Elstree Studios, resulting in his having to be on knee pads. A much liked face in the world of international film and TV, with many cult appearances in series like THE X-FILES and the original DOCTOR WHO under his belt, Roy has been a firm favourite with UK fans and made his first US CELEBRATION appearance at Anaheim this weekend, where he clearly had a lot of fun sharing his memories of working on the Classic Trilogy back in the day.

Deep Roy as Keenser, with J.J. Abrams filming STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. Image: PARAMOUNT.

Deep Roy at CELEBRATION ANAHEIM 2015.

Note the far right bodycast of Deep Roy with THE FORCE AWAKENS UK creature shop.

Having made two appearances in J.J. Abrams re-imagined STAR TREK films playing Simon Pegg's quirky little engineering helper, Keenser, its no surprise to hear that he will also be appearing in THE FORCE AWAKENS, as demonstrated in this telling image of the UK Creature Crew at Pinewood watching the live-stream for TFA's second teaser trailer. Note the face and body cast to the far right, confirming that Roy will be playing another memorable and likely very distinctive alien character somewhere in the movie's packed storytelling. We're looking forward to it.

UPDATE 8/7/15: An anonymous source has contacted us with this info: Unfortunately Deep Roy will not be appearing. At ComicCon he confirmed he had not been offered a role but would return for the third Star Trek. The body cast is actually of Kiran Shah, another very similar looking small actor, who often plays creature roles. 

AFICIONADO CLASSIC BEHIND THE SCENES INFO PART NINE

LONDON FILM AND COMIC CON - EARLS COURT, LONDON-SATURDAY 19^TH AND SUNDAY 20^TH JULY 2008

COMPILED BY SCOTT WELLER

Another great event that AFICIONADO attended-with a nice INDIANA JONES flavour on Saturday. It was fun to meet all the stars, all of whom were extremely friendly and enthusiastic.

Here’s some info I managed to find out that you guys and gals might like. On a less positive note, one thing that was a shame is that a major official title like TITAN's STAR WARS INSIDER was once again not present at another fact-filled event with first time STAR WARS signees, whom could have interviewed by them in greater detail!

The woman who first kissed Han Solo: Jenny Cresswell.

JENNY CRESSWELL (KNOWN AS JENNY-THE CANTINA WOMAN WHO KISSED HAN SOLO IN THE FIRST STAR WARS’S DELETED SCENES)



Now living in the Isle of Wight, Jenny made her first convention appearance at LFCC and was thrilled to be invited. She recalled being on the set of the first film for several weeks, found the filming conditions in the cantina horrible as there was a lot of smoke even when they started early at 5am in the morning. Before STAR WARS, she appeared regularly as a hostess on the SALE OF THE CENTURY quiz show for several years before being asked to meet Lucas for a role in STAR WARS.
 


Asked if Harrison was a good kisser she couldn’t remember, though he was pleasant enough-not yet a big star. Mark Hamill was lovely and when Sir Alec Guinness came on set everyone was quiet. She recalled he had such a wonderful presence and was a very nice man to go with it.
 


Her costume was a brown suede jacket and she had brown boots. Though she can’t remember costume reference photos being shot, they may well have been and she’s sure that other photos of her on set do exist-she did the film, as far as she is aware, before her stint during pretty much the whole run of the second season of SPACE:1999 in which she played a Moonbase Alpha Command Centre member-at the end of the season, when it looked like it would go to a third, creator/producer Gerry Anderson offered Jenny a full time lead part in the show but then a short time later the series was unexpectedly cancelled!

She had a terrific time working on SPACE: 1999 and enjoyed the variety of the episodes and all the different stories and designs and new things that had to be done on a weekly series-she was disappointed when the second series moved away from it’s adult/family mid evening Saturday time slot to a dreadful kiddie Sunday afternoon slot. She still has the security photo badge her character worn on her top during season two.

 One episode of SPACE she found particularly memorable as the alien shapeshifter character Maya (played by Catherine Schell) had to transform into her, so she also had to play another version of her regular role-in a scene which led to the character going crazy, which she found a challenge to film. 




 


The alien citizens of Mos Eisley's streets.

ANNETTE JONES (MOSEP THE CANTINA AND MOS EISLEY STREET ALIEN-STAR WARS)



Another really nice, bubbly lady bursting with enthusiasm and thoroughly enjoying her first STAR WARS signing. She was in her twenties when she worked on the first film, and was contacted for a part through the agency she was contracted with at the time-THE CENTRAL CASTING AGENCY in London. Did two costume fittings for the character-she was the creature that had the red beard whilst another actor (presumably Erica Simmons) played the one with the white hair who can be seen walking about in the Mos Eisley street scenes. At the time she was making STAR WARS she went out with one of the film crew and had a great time. The costume took about an hour to put on and she recalls posing in the costume with the Freeborn family for a group monster image. She doesn’t recall ever taking the costume off whilst she was filming her scenes (which were over a week on both the Mos Eisley street and in the Cantina) and may have eaten food and had drinks whilst still wearing it. In the Cantina she sat next to a friend of hers who played a crocodile-like creature.
 
Sadly she didn’t really get to the meet the main actors-it wasn’t really encouraged-if they talked to you it was fine but not really vice versa.
 


Saesee Tiin: a new Jedi for EPISODE ONE. Image: via TheRealGingerPrince.

KHAN BONFILS (SAESEE TIIN-EPISODE ONE)



His first convention, Khan was a very friendly, quietly spoken man. His make-up for the character of Saesee Tiin for EPISODE ONE only, took four to five hours at LEVEASDEN and normally took a couple of hours to take off at the end of a days filming. There were other generic scenes of the Jedi Council shot that never made the final cut. The actor was on set for a week in total. He sat next to Yoda, which he thought was very cool. At the moment, as well as auditioning for other roles, Khan has taken up a music career. (Note: Khan was recently seen as playing one of the villainous Silva's henchmen in the 2012 James Bond movie SKYFALL.)
 
 


Eeth Koth (Hassani Shapi) makes his first appearance in EPISODE ONE.

HASSANI SHAPI (EETH KOTH-EPISODE ONE ONLY)



A very friendly, enthusiastic man who had driven down to the event just as he was completing filming in Birmingham for a new drama. He recalls being on the EPISODE ONE set for three weeks filming his scenes in the Jedi Council at LEAVESDEN. They filmed lots of generic footage of the council members-close-ups, long shots, them with Neeson and McGregor, and of course, Yoda. He liked McGregor and had some drinks with him-Ewan was very gregarious and a party animal. Hassani very much liked working with him.
 


JAY BENEDICT (DEAK IN THE LOST ANCHORHEAD SCENES OF STAR WARS, AND NEWT’S FATHER IN THE DELETED SCENES OF ALIENS).


A refined looking man with the face you’ve seen on TV a lot but can never quite work out in what, Benedict worked on the first STAR WARS film for 2-3 days. Originally offered a day’s work on the film by his agent who told him it was some kind of unusual space movie that he’d be working on. He went out for lunch when filming began with Mark Hamill whom he liked a great deal, and recalled that all through the lunch they had,  which Benedict enjoyed, all Hamill could talk about was the film he’d recently seen- ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEXT and about how great Jack Nicholson was in it. He also recalled being on set, playing some on some sort of electronic type pool table, meeting Koo Stark before she became linked to Royalty, and being paid £75 for his work. He is still friends with Garrick Hagon and has worked with him and his wife, Lisa on other projects.
 


A Wampa is felled by Rebel forces in a deleted scene from EMPIRE.

TERRY RICHARDS (THE ICONIC SWORDSMAN FROM RAIDERS, PLAYED THE WAMPA IN EMPIRE’S DELETED ACTION SCENE AT ELSTREE)



Recalling his Tunisian action stint as the swordsman, Terry recalls that in the film world that shot, the original plan for the Indy versus the Swordsman, was considered a “luxury” shot-one that could be improvised and played around with: the script simply said of their confrontation-“they fight”, though Richards thought the amount of stunt fighting that could be done with a whip against a sword was quite limiting at the time. 


STAR WARS-wise, 
he only worked on THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. In 1979, Richards had the distinction of playing the Wampa snow monster for interior action sequences of the Hoth Rebel base filmed at ELSTREE STUDIOS. As Des Webb, the original actor who played the creature in the Finse filming, was not a very strong man, it was decided that Richards would don the creature costume for the scene where it bursts through a secluded cave corridor and attacks Rebel officers. Richards recalled that the suit was a nightmare-that he wore the stills previously by Webb in Norway and that the interior of the mask was constructed almost like a scaffold with the actors jaw rigged to mechanics that moved the creature jaw outside. The sequence saw him having to throw Rebel soldiers around the set and at one point, the Wampa costume was set on fire-Richard recalls the Rebels using a flame thrower like weapon at the creature. Sadly, the resulting footage, shot over a week and supervised by David Tomblin, never made the final cut of the film as the creature’s head was seen to bobble too much when moving in the dailies. It just didn’t look convincing enough and had to go… 
 


In other stunt work, in the world of James Bond look out for him in TOMORROW NEVER DIES-he’s the bearded bald guy that beats up Pierce Brosnan in Elliot Carver’s studio at the beginning of the film.




SONNY CALDINEZ (MEAN MONGOLIAN ASSOCIATE TO TOHT IN RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (SHOT FROM BEHIND BY MARION), AN ICE WARRIOR IN NUMEROUS EARLY DOCTOR WHO TV SERIES EPISODES)



The actor, primarily known in science fiction circles for his work on DOCTOR WHO, playing numerous Ice Warrior monsters across nearly nine years, and working with three doctors-Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker), Caldinez, who also played a mean Mongolian in the Ravenwood bar action scene in RAIDERS, recalled that he originally went up for an interview to play Darth Vader for STAR WARS in 1975-on the very same day that Dave Prowse had his in London. They were both together in the corridor, and both had interviews with Lucas, but in the end Prowse won the gig because he was taller. Caldinez has no regrets about Prowse winning the part and thought he did a very good job.

Caldinez recalls he had an enjoyable time working on DOCTOR WHO over that lengthy period from the mid sixties to the mid seventies-the fibre glass Ice Warrior costume he inhabited in numerous stories was very uncomfortable and he sweated buckets, but he enjoyed working with everybody-particularly citing out Jon Pertwee as his favourite actor to play the Time Lord-for a such a physical, active man who lived life to the full, Caldinez is still shocked that a man as fit and vibrant as Pertwee died back in the mid nineties. 
 
On his stint on RAIDERS, Caldinez recalls that though Harrison Ford works with snakes, he doesn’t like them as much as we would believe and didn’t enjoy working on the Well of Souls set. In fact, the crew apparently played a practical joke on Ford involving a box/crate of snakes during filming which apparently had the actor hurrying off the set uncomfortably!!



MALCOLM WEAVER (MONGOLIAN BADDY WITH TOHT IN RAIDERS (THE SMALLEST OF THE GROUP), STORMTROOPER IN RETURN OF THE JEDI, QUEEN ALIEN IN ALIENS

Best known as one of the Death Star commanders killed by a Stormtrooper disguised Han Solo in STAR WARS-his blaster demise trimmed down from the 1997 SPECIAL EDITION onwards. Weaver, contrary to fan reports, revealed to me that he didn’t take part in any of the RETURN OF THE JEDI Yuma action sequences (he jokingly thought that he might have upset the stunt co-ordinator and that’s why he never went out there with the rest of them!!), though be did play a Stormtrooper for the movie-which he found very uncomfortable and not enjoyable to work in at all. Sadly, due to the passage of time, there was very little else about his work on the film that he could recall (and at one point he mentioned a car accident that he had). He also couldn’t actually remember when he filmed his scenes. Malcolm was one of the operators inside the giant Alien Queen puppet built for live action filming at Pinewood for James Cameron’s ALIENS (which he spent six weeks on). He was body casted for that scene so that the part of the suit he was operating in fitted him properly..
.

Dietrich (Wolf Kahler) is after Indiana Jones once again...

WOLF KAHLER (DIETRICH IN RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK)



A very straightforward person, at his first signing event, he recalled that he spent three months filming on RAIDERS. He only remembers one cut scene with his character-that of his having an argument with Gruber. Of the kind of work he does now, he’s very happy with what he does and loves playing German characters of all kinds, especially fun nobility parts-especially the 1980’s SHERLOCK HOLMES episode he did - A Scandal in Bohemia- working with Jeremy Brett as Holmes and the lovely Gayle Hunnicut as Irene Adler-Kahler enjoyed working on it and found the late Jeremy Brett, who many feel to be the definitive actor to have played the part, to be a very dedicated and gracious man on set.
 


Nick Gillard on the EPISODE I set with Ray Park.

NICK GILLARD (STAR WARS PREQUELS STUNT CO-ORDINATOR, A GERMAN IN INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, THE ALIEN QUEEN IN ALIENS, CIN DRALLIG IN REVENGE OF THE SITH)



As ever, a thoroughly nice chap, highly talkative and happily signing and posing for photos with fans, he recalled that the original length of the Anakin/ Obi-Wan duel filmed was fifteen minutes long, of which the original version of the fight with stunt actors rehearsing the moves still exists on tape. The fight was heavily re-edited in the final version and not all of it made the final version, sadly- a shame as he thought the original version was one of the proudest moments of his stunt career. He recently worked on the Angelina Jolie adventure film WANTED (which he found a tough and thoroughly demanding film to work on, and he hasn’t seen a full theatrical version of it, yet, either!), and is currently back to doing stunts on TV-he is going to be working on the new re-make of the highly popular British ITV series MINDER. He was indeed asked by Mark Hamill, whom he had facial and physical similarities to at the time, to be his double for RETURN OF THE JEDI. Though he was on set in 1982, union regulations prevented him from doing this, despite Hamill’s request, and Colin Skeaping stayed on as Hamill’s film/stunt double.
 
Regarding future projects, Gillard's film directing debut as an action director has not yet happened. Hayden Christensen has sadly pulled out of the film he was to have done with both Gillard and Sam Jackson (though Jackson is still keen to be involved with Gillard on the project if it materializes).
 
Gillard also recalled his time operating the mammoth Alien Queen prop for ALIENS-he was at the front end of the operation of the creature, whilst Malcolm Weaver was handling another part of it.
 


DEEP ROY (YODA IN ONE SCENE FOR EMPIRE, NUMEROUS ALIEN PARTS IN RETURN OF THE JEDI, THE OOMPA LUMPA IN TIM BURTON’S WILLY WONKA REMAKE)



His most recent acting job has been spending nearly six weeks on the set of the new JJ Abraham’s top secret STAR TREK movie re-vamp. He very much enjoyed working on it and was very impressed with how it looked visually. Sadly, he couldn’t reveal much about the plot but said that he is playing a goodie-an alien engineering assistant to Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott (being played by SPACED’s Simon Pegg).
 Deep Roy confirmed that he did indeed play Artoo for a couple of scenes at ELSTREE, but he couldn’t remember if it was for EMPIRE or JEDI (or both). He jokingly recalled that he only did it at times when Kenny Baker had been drinking too much in the ELSTREE BAR (which is fast becoming a legend in AFICIONADO circles with the amount of people who enjoyed being in it over the years!!). Deep always reluctantly did those extra Artoo scenes as he didn’t like robbing his friend Baker of the work.
 


BILL WESTON (IMPERIAL STORMTROOPER- STAR WARS, SOLDIER IN RAIDERS, STUNTMAN ON NUMEROUS JAMES BONDS)



A terrific guy, with a very good memory of the films he worked on, the stuntman recalls that he played a Stormtrooper towards the end of shooting of the original film (presumably he was referring to the Blockade Runner scenes)-and that the first film was the only one he ended up working on. The Stormtrooper outfit he wore was way too small and he only just fitted in it.
 
Bill was involved in one of my all time favourite fight scenes in the James Bond 1987 film THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS-where he plays an agent who inadvertently walks into one of the villains, Necros (as played by Andreas Wisnewski) who has infiltrated a British safe house and has a brutal fight with him in a kitchen. I complimented Weston on that-it’s a terrific sequence, and he recalled that he was pretty much instrumental in working out the choreography of that sequence on set, shot after much of the film’s beginning in Germany was in the can, and in the way the burn make-ups would be done when the agent’s face is half scorched on a cooker.
 
Additionally, the actor playing Necros was worried about injuring Weston so the stunt man had to time the fight moves carefully to make sure that the actor looked superior to him when filmed. Weston also has another classic fight sequence in ea early episode of the BBC-1 1970’s/80’s series BLAKE’S 7 (series one, episode two-SPACEFALL), in which he fights actor Paul Darrow playing Avon. Weston was amused to hear from me that the fight from that episode has sadly been cut over the years on it’s VHS release by the BRITISH BOARD OF FILM CENSORS because there were several dangerous blows in the fight that they were worried could be copied.
 
 
Weston also appeared in RAIDERS, during the Tunisia filming and was the guy in the bike that went over into the pond during the truck chase. He also recalls that the compliment of soldiers getting into the truck at the beginning of the sequence doesn’t match the amount eventually seen clambering on its exterior to get Harrison Ford later in the action sequence!!!
 
As a working stuntman on TITANIC, a joking Weston was very surprised that, with all the physical difficulties imposed on both the main cast and crew, that no one ever shot James Cameron for being so demanding and perfectionist- and aggressive- about everything.
 


LYNNE HAZELDEN (X-WING PILOT-RETURN OF THE JEDI, ALSO APPEARED AS A BACKGROUND ARTIST IN SEVERAL BONDS, AND SUPERMAN III)



A friend of Richard Bonehill, who played numerous parts in two of the STAR WARS films, the charming, bouncy and enthusiastic actress humorously recalled that  a lot of extras that worked on films during her time as a background artist on many big films, were actually criminals-not in a  modern gangster kind of way but more like shady Del Boy/ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES types trying to sell stolen watches!
 
She was recalled back to the JEDI filming for an insert scene showing her in her pilots gear (orange for X-wing) dancing with an Ewok for the finale celebrations-sadly the footage never got used, but a still photograph of that scene exists-an off-duty moment of the actress with the little person playing the Ewok.
 


According to Lynne, there were more female background extras on JEDI because the UK film/TV unions lobbied the STAR WARS team for more women to be used in the movies. She didn’t do any cockpit scenes for the movie-she has been mistaken by fans for another actress who did them-it was just the scene in the briefing room.
 
That scene was a challenge to film because you had to be very careful with eyelines for filming, keeping in continuity and in the right positioning. There were many takes done-she doesn’t remember if it was Marquand or David Tomblin who directed her scenes.
 
The actress also played a fighter pilot for the scene in the Rebel Hangar Bay, towards the end of JEDI’s UK filming, where she accidentally got into trouble when she unintentionally walked over a line she wasn’t supposed to when they were filming a scene that had some tricky photography-it had taken a while to set the shooting of the scene up and Harrison Ford gave the actress a bit of a grumpy look when it happened. 
She got the role because she was told to go there and take part in it by her agents/casting people-it was as simple as that-sometimes she would be working back-to-back on films.
 
Her other appearances would include SUPERMAN III, the James Bond film OCTOPUSSY (she was one of the circus audience members) and DIE ANOTHER DAY (where she was part of a group attending the outdoor launch of the villains space satellite in the arctic). On OCTOPUSSY, the actress was thrilled when a still in costume Christopher Reeve popped in one lunch time to visit the filming on the Bond set.
 





More info on the actress can be found at: www.markdermul.be
 
 



CARRIE HENN (NEWT IN ALIENS)



The ex actress/co-star of ALIENS was very polite, and revealed that she worked on the film for a staggering nine months total (from filming to post-production). Her family was living in England at the time the film was being made, as her father was a military man stationed there. Sadly, she hasn’t seen much of Sigourney Weaver in a while (though she did sit next to her at the ALIEN III premiere in the US). As far as the aliens went, they weren’t really scary to work with-they were just men in suits to her when she was little!!

The lovely Karen Allen poses for a publicity image for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.

KAREN ALLEN (MARION RAVENWOOD IN RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, AND INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL)




What can I say..I always wanted to meet her. And she is Marion Ravenwood- the moment she gave me that smile-that warm, cheeky smile that comes naturally to her. Karen was a real crowd pleaser-chatted and talked to people and signing hundreds of autographs. I asked her, when she got the script for CRYSTAL SKULL, if she had to make any changes or revisions in case there were any moments that were out of character for Marion. She said there weren’t any and it was pretty much as we saw in the film. Sadly, I wasn’t able to get to meet John Hurt or get his autograph, but Karen’s will do for me!!

AFICIONADO CLASSIC BEHIND THE SCENES INFO PART FOUR

LONDON FILM AND COMIC CON 1st and 2nd SEPTEMBER 2007

Compiled by Scott Weller

With thanks to Ian Trussler for additional information

GUESTS NOTES

Gary Kurtz has fun with Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher on the EMPIRE set.

GARY KURTZ (PRODUCER-STAR WARS AND THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK)

The Producer revealed that, as well as his Second Unit work on the Blockade Runner for STAR WARS at ELSTREE, he also directed shots of Imperial officers/Stormtroopers on alert during the DEATH STAR attack and recalls filming the scenes where one of the gun emplacements blows up from Rebel fire. He may also have directed the scene where the TIE pilots rush to their fighter bays, but he can’t confirm for sure.

He re-confirmed that, due to lighting, film and technical difficulties, the JABBA THE HUTT/ DOCKING BAY 94 scene, despite no problems with the actor’s performances, was scrapped shortly after filming, and after three attempts to shoot the footage had been done with Ford, Mayhew and Declan Mulholland. This confirmation tells us that Lucas never planned to go back and have a stop motion puppet added on after filming. The footage had already been scrapped and the important plot info about the relationship between Han and Jabba passed on to Greedo in Post Production. Kurtz does not like that scene put back in the SPECIAL EDITON, finding it irrelevant.

Kurtz thought that the recent JW Rinzler MAKING OF STAR WARS book was okay for an “official” book-was surprised by some of the photo choices, however. He also revealed that at least half of the original on-set photography negatives for the film shoot, including his and John Jay’s work, went missing/were lost, and that many of the photos we see in the magazines even today were first printed from the surviving high quality proof sheets!! The stolen duplicate transparencies from the STAR WARS offices in April 1977 were also never recovered.

For the re-mastering of STAR WARS for the SPECIAL EDITION, Kurtz recalls that scenes on the negative were so badly scratched that they had to use the best quality material possible from the remaining worldwide theatrical prints used in cinemas twenty years earlier. It was a difficult job finding good quality prints and Kurtz was heavily involved in this work-even loaning LUCASFILM his own personal print of the movie for one scene which was heavily damaged on the original.

Before RETURN OF THE JEDI, Kurtz had looked at the idea of the spacecraft visual effects for STAR WARS being done with early computer rendering, but in the mid 70’s, it just wasn’t possible and there wasn’t enough memory storage space in those early machines. Additionally, Kurtz cannot recall any experiments with Japanese Bunraku puppetry-something that has previously been mentioned in STAR WARS lore by Richard Edlund- but the process was used, against blue screen, for a couple of shots involving puppets in LABYRINTH.

Some of the end cast credits for the film are incomplete due to mistakes via the film’s original UK production office in 1976, which is why some actors aren’t mentioned (like who the actor was that portrayed Red Ten) and why some actors have incorrect spellings.

Backing up some of what George Roubicek revealed at CELEBRATION IV US, Kurtz confirmed that more incidental material on the Blockade Runner, for the beginning of STAR WARS, was shot during the Imperial attack than what appeared in the final film. What exactly that all was he can’t remember but more material was shot.

Kurtz is currently working on a new character drama set during World War II, which he is very excited about and which should start filming next year. He’s also working on a new STAR WARS project, concerning the unsung heroes behind the scenes who worked on the first film, including John Barry, ILM and other people who haven’t received the credit they should have for the success of the original film. This will not be available commercially, but will be available to fans (probably as a DVD) at some point in the next few years. A book of Gary Kurtz’s on set photographs for STAR WARS and EMPIRE hasn’t been ruled out, though this is not a priority to Kurtz at the moment.

The REVENGE OF THE JEDI original storyline was a several page outline born from events that had been created from Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan’s screenplay for EMPIRE. It was never more than outline before he and Lucas had their falling out over the rollercoaster adventure movie that Lucas wanted the finale film to be, and which he perceived audiences would want to see, rather than the bitter sweet ending that Kurtz had originally planned for with Lucas. Kurtz also didn’t like the fact that the film was starting to be a giant toy movie/promotion.

PAUL JERRICHO (IMPERIAL AT-AT PILOT-EMPIRE)

The actor confirmed that he played the part for four days at ELSTREE on a full 360 degrees built set. As ever, the Stormtrooper costume was extremely hot and heavy to wear. And, as ever, the actors reacted to nothing on the view screen. His scenes were directed by Kershner.

Chris Malcolm as Zev in EMPIRE.

CHRISTOPHER MALCOLM (ZEV-REBEL SNOWSPEEDER PILOT-EMPIRE)

A really nice guy, at his first convention, the actor revealed that the replacement camera used for Snowspeeder cockpit blue screen filming had previously been used on GONE WITH THE WIND- such was the film’s status that people on set would often come by just to touch the legendary camera that had filmed the landmark movie!! As previously mentioned in STAR WARS AFICONADO, it took a long time to film scenes in the cockpit due to blue screen lighting problems. Malcolm also confirmed that actor Eugene Lipinsky did indeed play a Rebel Snowspeeder pilot whose scenes were cut from the film, but that’s all he could remember on that score (any one out there got any ideas as to who he would have played?). Malcolm may also have had a scene showing how he got his facial injury before being felled by a Walker, but, again, he can’t recall for sure anymore.

Deep Roy about to play Yoda for a brief walking scene in EMPIRE.

DEEP ROY (WALKING YODA-EMPIRE, NUMEROUS ALIENS-JEDI)

Not much info apart from the fact that he just loved working on EMPIRE and RETURN OF THE JEDI and had a great time with everybody. Adored working with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp on WILLY WONKA, which was one of the most demanding parts he’s ever played and also liked working with Gillian Anderson on THE X-FILES.

AL LAMPERT (COMMANDER JIR-STAR WARS)

Another really nice guy. When asked why it’s taken so long to attend a convention, he replied that he had never been asked!!! As far as he was aware, all of his scenes filmed were in the final movie and nothing was cut. His part in STAR WARS was just after he had competed work on SPACE:1999. Lampert was aware of the time pressure to try and finish the movie, recalled the slightly flimsy Blockade Runner corridor set, and remembered when George Lucas had to pull the plug on the shoot when they run out of off money. Even at that time, the film had certainly not been finished in Lucas’s eyes.

VASS ANDERSON (REBEL TECHNICIAN-STAR WARS)

Only appeared as a Rebel technician in STAR WARS, he did not appear on EMPIRE. Was on set for a week’s filming.

Syd Wragg as he appeared in one scene from STAR WARS.

SYD WRAGG (IMPERIAL OFFICER-STAR WARS)

Playing the officer who talked to Tarkin briefly before Princess Leia is brought into the war room, Wragg revealed that he did have a line of dialogue that he said to Peter Cushing before being motioned away. The line was something like “All Imperial ships are ready” he recalled. Wragg, having greatly enjoyed working with Ford, Fisher, Hamill and Peter Cushing, would also go on to work on several James Bond films, including the epic THE SPY WHO LOVED ME-released in 1977- and SUPERMAN THE MOVIE (playing one of the Kryptonian elders, and recalling how Marlon Brando always used to read his dialogue off cue cards!!). Having taking up Karate, he also taught Gareth Hunt how to fight as Mike Gambit in THE NEW AVENGERS, as well as Joanna Lumley as Purdey (Wragg recalled that, being her first major TV role, Lumley was very shy at first). He also worked on THE SWEENEY teaching fighting moves to Dennis Waterman, who would later go on to MINDER, with George Cole, as well) and THE PROFESSIONALS TV series, again teaching the leads how to do Karate.

Wragg is also seen walking the corridors of the Death Star in some scenes, like where Han and Luke escort Chewie, whilst disguised as Stormtroopers.

Ralph Brown as Ric Olie with Jake Lloyd as Anakin in EPISODE I.

RALPH BROWN (RIC OLIE-EPISODE ONE: THE PHANTOM MENACE)

Unaware that his friend, Ray Winstone, had also auditioned for the part of Ric Olie and was considered for the pilot by Robin Gurland after previously thinking of him for several insect like creatures (??) for EPISODE ONE. Though he liked the filming experience (especially being in the fighter cockpit for the space battle scenes), and working with Jake Lloyd, who he thought was fun, Brown was not a fan of the finished movie or of the experience of working with George Lucas.

Prior to the release of THE PHANTOM MENACE, Brown, who had a film premiering at the SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL, when asked by a journalist about working on STAR WARS told reporters that Lucas was “a man lacking in human decency.” When this quote ended up in the NEW YORK TIMES, Lucas and LUCASFILM were immensely unhappy with Brown, who would not be invited to the film’s London premiere.

Quentin Pierre (left) as one of the Bespin guards (alongside Alan Harris) escorting the carbon Han Solo in EMPIRE.

QUENTIN PIERRE (NUMEROUS ROLES –STAR WARS, EMPIRE AND JEDI)

Having previously worked at PINEWOOD on both seasons of SPACE: 1999, which he found boring to work on, Pierre would be hired for STAR WARS by Stunt Co-Ordinator Peter Diamond, and would also be Billy Dee Williams stand in on EMPIRE (as well as playing a Bespin security guard (one of the two who escorts the carbonised Han Solo to SLAVE ONE)). For STAR WARS, Pierre would do a lot of stunt work as a Stormtrooper (there was, at first, some film scheduling problems with the SPACE: 1999 production office, but eventually things were sorted out). Pierre was also hired specifically by LUCASFILM for JEDI, and was also one of the Royal Guards for the film (he was one of them for the deleted scene in JEDI with Vader Force-choking Moff Jerjerrod as well). The Emperor’s Royal Guard costume was difficult to walk in and all the actors in the red robes had to make certain that there was enough spacing between them as they walked so that they didn’t fall over each other. Pierre also hinted that with his likeness on one of the action figure cards that there was a bit of a stink over the use of his image- it looks like he or his agent may have tried to get extra money for the use of his face.

Two Rodians at work in Jabba's Palace from RETURN OF THE JEDI.

MAROLYN TURK (BEEDO-RETURN OF THE JEDI)

A former double for actress Glen Close on British filmed movies including the two 101 DALMATIONS movies and HAMLET, and with 300 feature film credits to her name as a background artist, Marolyn, playing the Rodian Beedo, would strike up firm friendships with the majority of other actors in the masked costumes on the Jabba’s Palace set and would go on over the years to correspond with many of them regularly. Sadly, one close friend of Turks, who had worked on JEDI, sadly died.

The Rodian costumes, and several others, were originally built for men but the size 10 frame better suited the female form. To avoid claustrophobia, Turk would often push the eyes of her mask. Both Turk and the numerous other actors in the monster make ups got on extremely well with the main cast and, in between takes, Turk, with Mark Hamill, would come up with mind games to ease the boredom of setups.

STEPHEN SPEIRS (CAPTAIN TARPALS-EPISODE ONE: THE PHANTOM MENACE)

Impressed with his work in the London National Theatre’s production of GUYS AND DOLLS, Speirs filming duties as Captain Tarpals were very lengthy and in a manner not unlike the process that was used to film Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks on set (in those dark days before CGI characters had been firmly cemented on screen). Additionally, the voice over/adr work for the character also went on for a lengthy period, with new lines of dialogue and other character ideas for the character coming up. Steven enjoyed working with George Lucas.

William Hoyland as Imperial Commander Igar in RETURN OF THE JEDI.

WILLIAM HOYLAND (IMPERIAL COMMANDER IGAR-ENDOR GARRISON AT-AT-RETURN OF THE JEDI)

Hoyland recalls that he and Mark Hamill, in costume, got stuck for three hours in the specially built elevator in the studio soundstage to take the actors/crew to the walkway/gantry next to the AT-AT. The scene where Luke has handed himself over to the Imperials, with Hoyland presenting his lightsaber to Vader, was filmed by Richard Marquand. Due to the delay with the lift, however, the days filming was in serious danger of going over schedule, resulting in Marquand being a bit sharp with some of the other actors on the scene in the rush to get things completed. Hoyland recalls that Mark Hamill was extremely nice to work with.

JIM DOWDALL (STORMTROOPER IN STAR WARS, BESPIN GUARD IN EMPIRE STRIKES BACK)

Dowdall, whose work includes numerous JAMES BOND films, A BRIDGE TOO FAR (made after his STAR WARS filming at ELSTREE), HANOVER STREET/FORCE TEN TO NAVARONE (both working with Harrison Ford), and DOCTOR WHO, the stuntman/actor remembers how uncomfortable the Stormtrooper outfits were. Braving the rain on the 1977 Saturday morning of the UK cast and crew screening of the movie, Dowdall, almost reluctant at going, travels there on his new Harley Davidson and is soon amazed by the film, recalling that, with the opening shot, all of the cast and crew got up and applauded the incredible sequence. Unfortunately, he could not recall any of the possible scenes of Stormtroopers taking away/ killing the Bespin residents when they evacuate in EMPIRE.

ROBERT ENGLUND (WILLIE IN “V THE SERIES” AND FREDDY IN THE “NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET” FILMS)

As seen in a photograph in the MAKING OF STAR WARS book, Robert Englund visited the ILM team in San Fernando Valley, and was a friend of effects man Dennis Irving, the brother of Amy Irving-who would later marry, and divorce, Steven Spielberg. Englund would bring food over to the ILM team during their hard work at the Thanksgiving holidays, and was also a friend of Hamill- Englund and his girlfriend would let the young actor stay over at their apartment from time to time as Hamill’s was in such a bad state.

Englund, auditioning for the part of the surfer character in APOCALYPSE NOW, turned up unshaven and wearing a tight military shirt, where, though passed on for APOCALYPSE with Francis Ford Coppola, he was recommended to Lucas to try out for the Han Solo role, as the actor looked quite tough.

JOHN FORGEHAM (THE OFFICER AT THE BEGINNING OF STAR WARS WHO, SEEING THE ESCAPE POD, SAYS: “THERE GOES ANOTHER ONE”)

Forgeham, whose career as an actor spans nearly forty years, got the part of the Imperial gun officer when his agent called him saying that there was a small part on STAR WARS. Knowing it was only a days work, and living in nearby Borehamwood at that time, Forgeham takes on the part arriving on the specially built set and reacting to blue screen, The scene, which was shot with another actor (whom Forgeham thinks he knew from working on the UK soap opera CROSSROADS (someone named David?)) was not shot by Lucas-Forgeham thinks it was Second Unit (probably the Monday after the July filming of STAR WARS was halted). After the filming, Forgeham was happy to frequent the well- stocked ELSTREE STUDIOS bar!!!

Forgeham also confirmed that his friend Ken Hutchison was indeed in the movie-playing one of the Imperial officers in the conference room scene with Vader and Tarkin. Hutchison was also listed, according to Pablo Hidalgo as being present on the call sheets for the Blockade Runner filming but he was replaced in the filming by Al Lampert  (JW Rinzler’s MAKING OF STAR WARS book also lists another actor for that scene and role: Constantin De Gregory)

At the convention, Forgeham went over to meet and shake hands with Gary Kurtz and was amazed by the worldwide STAR WARS fans in attendance to see him.

Carrie Fisher and Tracy Eddon get a tan in Yuma during filming of JEDI.

TRACEY EDDON (STUNT WOMAN-RETURN OF THE JEDI)

As well as being Leia and Threepio’s stunt double as Yuma, Eddon also unhappily played an Imperial Stormtrooper for one of the Endor battle scenes filmed at the Redwoods. She was coerced into doing it as they had run out of stunt men to occupy the suits, and, when putting it on, said she looked ridiculous.

Tracy Eddon’s father was the late Ed Eddon, who appeared in the Blockade Runner scenes in STAR WARS-Ed (Eddie) Eddon was the silver haired Rebel trooper with blue eyes who had two close ups before he was killed by Stormtroopers. Tracy’s mother is Sadie Edon, also a stunt woman, who was in STAR WARS, playing the cantina alien Reegesk.

Eddon, still a working stunt actress, enjoyed being on JEDI, working with the cast, and was impressed with the specially built Sail Barge set on location. She doesn’t recall playing an Endor Rebel Commando when I asked her-it may well have been Wendy Leech in the posed group photo taken on the DEATH STAR set with Mark Hamill.

Colin Skeaping played Luke for the scene where he and Eddon, as Leia, swing over to the Sand Skiff.

The rat-like alien Reegesk in the Cantina, from STAR WARS.

SADIE EDON (REEGESK-THE CANTINA ALIEN-IN STAR WARS)

Sadie, whose surname is spelt Edon, previously a regular stunt woman on the JAMES BOND films, remembers that the filming of her scenes on STAR WARS were one day only on the cantina set. None of the regular background artists wanted to wear the suit and Edon braved the extremely hot costume (she really couldn’t wait to get out of it by the end of the filming). She also recalled, however, that she was paid a good sum of money at the time for wearing the costume.

Sadie, now retired, thinks Harrison Ford is gorgeous!!