EDITORIAL — Time to put the Huey to pasture

They were part of one of the biggest movies in history but almost without exception the cast of “Star Wars,” which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, faded from view after lighting up cinemas during the 1970-80s.

While George Lucas’ intergalactic fairytale proved to be a launch pad for the career of Harrison Ford, other prominent members of the blockbuster franchise have not come close to enjoying Ford’s iconic status.

Mark Hamill, who played the boyish hero Luke Skywalker in all three of the original films, appeared in numerous television series and stage plays and now is best-known as a voice-over actor for cartoons such as “Batman.”

But for Hamill, 55, “Star Wars” remains inescapable, 30 years after it first hit cinema screens on May 25 1977.

“I still see mothers in supermarkets who berate me because their son has just blown his college fund on buying a replica light saber,” he told AFP. “People are insane. I will never come to terms with it.”

Hamill, largely unknown before he landed the part of Luke in 1975, said he had not known what to expect when he signed on.

“I saw the script and thought if no one gets it, it’s going to be hysterical,” Hamill said. “It’s going to be the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ in space. I thought it could be a comedy.

“So I decided the only way to play it was to be completely convinced of it, otherwise it would be a comedy.”

A highlight for Hamill was working with Sir Alec Guinness, the late British actor who played Skywalker’s Jedi knight mentor, Obi Wan Kenobi.

“Without naming names, you meet some stars and afterwards you go ‘Gee, I wish I hadn’t met him,’” Hamill said.

“With Alec Guiness you loved him like he was a relative. He was like the grandfather you always wanted. One of the first things he ever said was ‘Don’t ever call me ‘Sir Alec.’”

Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia, said in a newly published book about the making of “Star Wars” that she could never grasp that the film had become such a huge hit.

“‘Star Wars’ got an amazing response,” Fisher said. “I used to drive by and look at the lines and think, ‘what?.’”

Fisher has continued to work as an actress, taking small roles in films such as Woody Allen’s 1986 film “Hannah and Her Sisters” and 1990’s romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally.”

She has enjoyed most success as a writer, authoring the best-selling and semi-autobiographical “Postcards from the Edge,” later made into a movie starring Meryl Streep.

It is an irony that some of the biggest roles in “Star Wars” went to actors whose faces were never seen by the audience.

And in the case of former British weightlifter David Prowse, who played Darth Vader, he was neither seen nor heard, Lucas opting for classically-trained actor James Earl Jones to provide Vader’s menacing voice.

Prowse, 71, said in a 2006 interview that he has not spoken to Lucas for over 20 years since a falling out during the third film “Return of the Jedi.”

“I’ve been sort of politely ignored by everybody,” Prowse said. “I’ve not spoken to George Lucas since 1983, to give you some idea.

“The only time they get in touch with me is to send me solicitors’ letters about things which I’m doing that they think is offending them.”

But while Prowse was frozen out for a reappearance in 2005’s prequel “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” both Kenny Baker, the meter (three- foot, eight inches) tall actor who played chirping robot R2-D2, and Anthony Daniels, the sidekick C-3PO, remain the only two actors to receive credits in all six films. AFP