Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi 1983 premiere

Mark Hamill is best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy - Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) - a role he reprised in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) and Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019). He also starred and co-starred in the films Corvette Summer (1978), The Big Red One (1980), and Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014). Hamill's extensive voice acting work includes a long-standing role as the Joker, commencing with Batman: The Animated Series (1992).

Hamill was born in Oakland, California, to Virginia Suzanne (Johnson) and William Thomas Hamill, a captain in the United States Navy. He majored in drama at Los Angeles City College and made his acting debut on The Bill Cosby Show (1969). He then played a recurring role (Kent Murray) on the soap opera General Hospital (1963) and co-starred on the comedy series The Texas Wheelers (1974).

Released on May 25, 1977, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) was an enormous unexpected success and made a huge impact on the film industry. Hamill also appeared in The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) and later starred in the successful sequels Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). For both of the sequels, Hamill was honored with the Saturn Award for Best Actor given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. He reprised the role of Luke Skywalker for the radio dramatizations of both "Star Wars" (1981) and "The Empire Strikes Back" (1983), and then in a starring role in Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017). For the radio dramatization of "Return of the Jedi" (1996), the role was played by a different actor.

He voiced the new Chucky in Child's Play (2019), taking over from Brad Dourif.

Harrison Ford was born on July 13, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, to Dorothy (Nidelman), a radio actress, and Christopher Ford (born John William Ford), an actor turned advertising executive. His father was of Irish and German ancestry, while his maternal grandparents were Jewish emigrants from Minsk, Belarus. Harrison was a lackluster student at Maine Township High School East in Park Ridge Illinois (no athletic star, never above a C average). After dropping out of Ripon College in Wisconsin, where he did some acting and later summer stock, he signed a Hollywood contract with Columbia and later Universal. His roles in movies and television (Ironside (1967), The Virginian (1962)) remained secondary and, discouraged, he turned to a career in professional carpentry. He came back big four years later, however, as Bob Falfa in American Graffiti (1973). Four years after that, he hit colossal with the role of Han Solo in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). Another four years and Ford was Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

Four years later and he received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for his role as John Book in Witness (1985). All he managed four years after that was his third starring success as Indiana Jones; in fact, many of his earlier successful roles led to sequels as did his more recent portrayal of Jack Ryan in Patriot Games (1992). Another Golden Globe nomination came his way for the part of Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive (1993). He is clearly a well-established Hollywood superstar. He also maintains an 800-acre ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Ford is a private pilot of both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and owns an 800-acre (3.2 km2) ranch in Jackson, Wyoming, approximately half of which he has donated as a nature reserve. On several occasions, Ford has personally provided emergency helicopter services at the request of local authorities, in one instance rescuing a hiker overcome by dehydration. Ford began flight training in the 1960s at Wild Rose Idlewild Airport in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, flying in a Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer, but at $15 an hour, he could not afford to continue the training. In the mid-1990s, he bought a used Gulfstream II and asked one of his pilots, Terry Bender, to give him flying lessons. They started flying a Cessna 182 out of Jackson, Wyoming, later switching to Teterboro, New Jersey, flying a Cessna 206, the aircraft he soloed in. Ford is an honorary board member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope.

On March 5, 2015, Ford's plane, believed to be a Ryan PT-22 Recruit, made an emergency landing on the Penmar Golf Course in Venice, California. Ford had radioed in to report that the plane had suffered engine failure. He was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was reported to be in fair to moderate condition. Ford suffered a broken pelvis and broken ankle during the accident, as well as other injuries.

Carrie Frances Fisher was born on October 21, 1956 in Burbank, California, to singers/actors Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. She was an actress and writer known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). Fisher is also known for her book, "Postcards from the Edge", and she wrote the screenplay for the movie based on her novel. Carrie Fisher and talent agent Bryan Lourd have a daughter, Billie Lourd (Billie Catherine Lourd), born on July 17, 1992.

Billy Dee Williams was born William December Williams on April 6, 1937 in New York City. Billy Dee has notched up an impressive array of film and television appearances over the past 50+ years. He is easily best known to international film audiences as the roguish Lando Calrissian in the last two episodes of the original Star Wars trilogy: Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). Williams can also be seen on screen in Lady Sings the Blues (1972), Nighthawks (1981), Batman (1989), Moving Target (1996) and Undercover Brother (2002). A regular performer also in many fine quality television movies and television series.

Initially not a science fiction fan, theatre actor Anthony Daniels was persuaded by his agent to meet George Lucas for the casting of C-3PO in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). He went on to perform the character, both his voice and body in the suit, for all the episodic Star Wars films produced. Additionally, he performed the voice of the character for the radio serial based on the original trilogy and the animated series Star Wars: Droids (1985), Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), related series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) and Star Wars: Rebels (2014).

For Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), he wore a blue Spandex suit, as the android is incomplete in the film and ultimately produced in CGI. In addition to playing the golden droid, he appeared in a live action cameo in the nightclub scene of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and opera scene in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). As C-3PO, he played a small role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and The Lego Movie (2014).

Peter Mayhew was born on May 19, 1944 in Barnes, London, England, to Constance Elizabeth (Yeates) and Walter Henry Mayhew. Later resident in Texas, this former resident of Yorkshire, England, was working as a hospital attendant at the King's College Hospital in London when film producer Charles H. Schneer saw his photo, literally standing above the crowd around him. Schneer cast him in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977), Ray Harryhausen's special effects film.

A year later, he was offered another role. Mayhew was told it was for a big hairy beast. It was the role of Chewbacca, the faithful 200 year-old Wookiee in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and his life was changed forever. Following the original Star Wars trilogy, he made several television commercials in the Wookiee costume.

In 1997, the 20th-anniversary celebrations of Star Wars were announced with the release of the "Special Edition" and all the conventions started. He was active on the "Star Wars" convention circuit where he signed autographs. He wrote two books, "Growing Up Giant" and "My Favorite Giant", and founded a non-profit 501(c)3 charity organization called "The Peter Mayhew Foundation".

Kenny Baker was born on 24 August 1934 in Birmingham, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Time Bandits (1981), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) and The Elephant Man (1980). He was married to Eileen Baker. He died on 13 August 2016 in Preston, Lancashire, England, UK.

Ian McDiarmid was born on August 11, 1944 in Carnoustie, Tayside, Scotland. He studied for a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of St. Andrews, but eventually found that his calling was in theatre. He went to the Royal Academy in Glasgow, where he received the prestigious gold medal for his work. He now has a highly successful career as a theatre director, and from 1990 until his retirement in 2001, was Joint Artistic Director of London's Almeida Theatre in Islington. He and his co-director Jonathan Kent revived the Almeida and persuaded many Hollywood stars including Kevin Spacey, Ralph Fiennes and Anna Friel to tread the boards in their humble theatre. They won the coveted London Evening Standard Award in 1998 for their efforts. McDiarmid is also well known for his film and television appearances, and is perhaps most famous for his chilling performance as Emperor Palpatine in George Lucas's Star Wars films.

Frank Richard Oznowicz was born in Hereford, England to puppeteers Frances and Isidore Oznowicz. His family moved to Montana in 1951, eventually settling in Oakland, California. As a teenager, he worked as an apprentice puppeteer at Children's Fairyland amusement park. He is one of the primary puppeteers responsible for the development of Jim Henson's Sesame Street (1969) and The Muppet Show (1976) as well as over 75 other Muppet productions. George Lucas originally contacted Henson to play the part of Yoda in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), but he recommended Oz for the part instead. He developed the character's trademark syntax, returning to voice and puppet the Jedi Master in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) and Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999).

Oz voiced the computer-generated Yoda in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), supporting the transition of the character's rendering to digital. In 2011, the Blu-Ray edition of The Phantom Menace replaced the puppet Yoda with CGI to match the other prequel films.

He began a career of behind-the-camera puppet and live action filmmaking by co-directing The Dark Crystal (1982) with Henson. He went on to direct The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), What About Bob? (1991), The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), Bowfinger (1999), The Score (2001), The Stepford Wives (2004) and Death at a Funeral (2007).

David "Dave" Prowse was born into a working class family on 1 July, 1935 in Bristol, England, UK. He was raised by his mother and never knew his father. As a child, David was disadvantaged and a poor student, he found a passion for bodybuilding and weight training in his early teens, as a young adult, David often entered weightlifting competitions and contested in the famous Mr. Universe contest. Eventually, David won the British heavyweight weightlifting title and gained status as a highly regarded and respected member of the fitness community. Over this period of competitive weightlifting, David became lifelong friends with actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, who at the time were not professional actors but rival competitors. After appearing on various broadcast sporting events, David was offered a role in the feature film Casino Royale (1967) as "Frankenstein's Monster". Although the casting was based on David's stature, David developed a strong interest in acting and decided to pursue it further.

From 1967 to 1977, David enjoyed a quiet, but very successful career within film and television starring in such films as A Clockwork Orange (1971), Up Pompeii (1971) and numerous Hammer House of Horror films, gaining a vast and bulky CV. In 1975, David's popularity as a respected fitness guru landed him with the role and duty of the Green Cross Code Man, a superhero designed by the British road safety committee to teach road safety to children. The persona saw David traveling the world to give talks, demonstrations and shoot short television spots based on the hero's message. Proving successful the Green Cross Code Man continued to be a side project throughout David's busy career until the 1990s. He considers this role to be of great importance, and has stated many times that it is possibly the most rewarding job he has held.

It was not until 1977 when David attended an audition for a film entitled Star Wars. The film was not considered to be a big thing at the time and the audition was held by director George Lucas. At the meeting, George offered David either the part of Chewbacca or Darth Vader. Instantly turning away the role of Chewbacca, David insisted he play the lead villain Darth Vader. George asked David why he wanted to play Vader and he replied "Everyone remembers the villain, George." David also had a wealth of experience playing villains in previous films, and was the obvious choice. David played the role of Darth Vader for the entirety of the original Star Wars trilogy: Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). Although David does not voice the character, he is the physical body. Star Wars was perhaps David's most important role and a role that has enlisted him as one of the most memorable character villains of all time.

There have been many rumors, disputes and discussions about David's relationship with Star Wars and its staff. Regarding the apparent misled information David received about Vader's voice, promotional neglect and general mistreatment from Lucasfilm. This feud resulted in David being banned from all official Star Wars events. A statement from George Lucas read "He has burnt too many bridges." David stated that a majority of the rumors in circulation regarding the topic are fabricated and false including those of respectable actors involved, and has openly admitted his support of James Earl Jones as the voice of Vader and claims Lucas film were too concerned with keeping Vader a character than letting David receive deserved credit. The topic is covered in detail, in David's autobiography "Straight from the Force's Mouth". After Star Wars, David continued to work in television and film, making numerous appearances with the legendary Benny Hill. He continued to tour as the Green Cross Code Man and became the personal fitness trainer of many celebrities including Daniel Day-Lewis and Vanessa Redgrave.

David was loyal to Star Wars fans and participated in a number of fan-films as various characters spoofing Star Wars. Towards the end of David's busy acting period, his health declined due to a serious inflammation of arthritis, leaving him unable to stand for long periods of time and inflicting agonizing pain on his knees and hips. Undergoing treatment with hip replacement operations, it was discovered that David had prostate cancer in 2009. After a series of radiotherapy treatments at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, David made a full recovery in a remarkably short period of time. David was awarded Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2000 Queen's Millennium Honours List for his contributions to charity and spokesmanship for road safety, the disabled and other various charities. From 2004, David began writing his autobiography entitled "Straight from the Force's Mouth," which covers his career in showbiz and documents an unedited diary account of the Star Wars production. The book was published officially in hardback by Apex Publishing in 2011, and David toured Europe to attend book signings and personal appearances.

Over the course of his career, between acting and touring the world both as the Green Cross Code Man and David Prowse, David trained actors for films including Christopher Reeve for Superman (1978), wrote fitness books "Fitness is Fun", supported charity and even became the head of fitness for superstore Harrods. In the 2000s, David spent his time attending unofficial Star Wars events, conventions and film events where he signed photos, spoke to the fans and was in high demand as a public speaker all over the world.

Widely regarded as the one of greatest stage and screen actors both in his native USA and internationally, James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi. At an early age, he started to take dramatic lessons to calm himself down. It appeared to work as he has since starred in many films over a 40-year period, beginning with the Stanley Kubrick classic Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). For several movie fans, he is probably best known for his role as Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy (due to his contribution for the voice of the role, as the man in the Darth Vader suit was David Prowse, whose voice was dubbed because of his British West Country accent). In his brilliant course of memorable performances, among others, he has also appeared on the animated series The Simpsons (1989) three times and played Mufasa both in The Lion King (1994) and The Lion King (2019), while he returned too as the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).

Though primarily a stage actor, Sebastian Shaw appeared in some forty film and television productions from 1930 to 1991. Born in Holt, Norfolk, England, he first appeared on stage as a child in 1913, graduating to lead roles by the late 1920s. It was in 1930 that he made his first film appearance in Caste (1930). His most notable film roles of this period were as an aspiring actor opposite Miriam Hopkins and Rex Harrison in the Alexander Korda-produced Men Are Not Gods (1936); as a crime suspect in another Korda production, Murder on Diamond Row (1937); and opposite Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson in Michael Powell's U-Boat 29 (1939). His later films included Roy Boulting's documentary-style Journey Together (1945), The Glass Mountain (1949) (in which he played an eccentric Scottish lyricist), and Scotch on the Rocks (1953).

In the 1960s, he appeared in Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo's imaginative It Happened Here (1964), made in semi-documentary style showing Britons coping during a Nazi persecution. Mostly stage and television work followed (including an appearance as a judge in Rumpole of the Bailey (1978)). In 1982, Shaw was approached by George Lucas to make an appearance in the final episode of his Star Wars films, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). The role was the small but crucial one at the film's climax of the unmasked Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) and in the final scene as Anakin's ghost. The role has since made him a cult figure all over the world. Much of Shaw's remaining career was spent playing distinguished elderly gent roles, such as cold war spy-cum-art critic Basil Sharpe in High Season (1987). Shaw continued to act on stage, film and television well into his eighties. Sebastian Shaw died at age 89 of natural causes on December 23, 1994.

Alec Guinness was an English actor of stage and screen, his career spanning over sixty years. His best known screen works are his starring roles in several of the Ealing comedies between 1949 and 1957 (most notably as eight members of the same family in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), his Oscar-nominated turn as bank clerk turned bullion robber in The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), an inventor who never gives up in The Man in the White Suit (1951), and as one of five oddball criminals planning a bank robbery in The Ladykillers (1955)); his six collaborations over 38 years with director David Lean: Herbert Pocket in Great Expectations (1946), Fagin in Oliver Twist (1948), Col. Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor), Prince Faisal in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), General Yevgraf Zhivago in Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Professor Godbole in A Passage to India (1984); his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in George Lucas' original Star Wars trilogy (for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor); and his starring role as George Smiley in the television adaptations of John le Carré's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979) and Smiley's People (1982).

His gallery of notable characters (both fictional and historical) also includes Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in The Mudlark (1950), an enterprising rogue in The Promoter (1952), a sleuthing priest in The Detective (1954), an eccentric London artist in The Horse's Mouth (1958) (for which he was Oscar-nominated as a screenwriter), a wayward Scottish army officer in Tunes of Glory (1960), the ghost of Jacob Marley in Scrooge (1970), King Charles I in Cromwell (1970), the title role in Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973), a blind butler in Murder by Death (1976), a survivor of the Titanic disaster in Raise the Titanic (1980), and a return to Dickens' territory (and a final Oscar nomination) as William Dorrit in Little Dorrit (1987).

In 1959, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. In 1980 he received the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement.

Guinness died on 5 August 2000, from liver cancer, at Midhurst in West Sussex.

Although he was born in Glasgow he was moved to Crieff when 3 which was where his father had a jewelers shop. At 17 he failed to get into The Royal Academy of Music and Drama so got a job selling carpets for a while until he succeeded in getting into the Academy on his 2nd application and where he stayed for 3 years, His big break came in the play Pal Joey and he shot to fame in The Justice Game and the film Local Hero. He eventually left his common law wife for Sheila Gish.

Jeremy Bulloch was born on February 16, 1945 in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England, the son of Aziz Diane (Meade) and McGregor Bulloch, an aeronautical engineer. He was the middle of three siblings, along with three older half-brothers from his mother's earlier marriage. Even at the age of five he was on stage in his school show, acting and singing. After failing a school exam at the age of eleven, Jeremy seemed destined for the acting profession and was soon attending Corona Academy Drama School, making his first professional appearance at the age of twelve when he appeared in a commercial for a breakfast cereal.

Following many appearances on children's television, Jeremy's big break came at the age of 17 when he landed a major role in the musical film Summer Holiday (1963) which starred the pop idol Cliff Richard (now Sir Cliff). Shortly after, he went into a BBC soap opera called The Newcomers (1965) which ran for three years and made him a household name in the United Kingdom. In 1969, Jeremy was off to Madrid in Spain to play the leading role in a musical film called Las Leandras (1969). This was followed by two major films: The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970) and Mary, Queen of Scots (1971).

During the 1970s, he made many other screen appearances, including the James Bond films, in which he portrayed the character 'Smithers' (Q's assistant). In 1977, Jeremy spent six months in the Far East, where he was based in Singapore and travelled to the Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia filming a BBC drama documentary called 'The Sadrina Project'. This documentary was designed to teach the English language to people in the Far East, mainly the Chinese. On a trip to China some 15 years later, where Jeremy was performing in a stage play, he was instantly recognised by hundreds of people who stated they had learnt their English from the Sadrina Project.

In 1978, he was starring in the television comedy series Agony (1979), which was co-written by an American called Len Richmond. It was during this series that Jeremy was asked to play a small part in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). The part, of course, was Boba Fett - proving the old theatrical saying that "there is no such thing as a small part"! Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) soon followed and Jeremy was invited to reprise the role of Boba.

Since the early 1980s, Jeremy played many roles on television and on the stage in London's West End. He also had two worldwide theatre tours covering the Middle and Far East. Jeremy appeared regularly in the favourite television series Robin Hood (1984), in which he played the part of Edward of Wickham. Jeremy's son Robbie was asked to play Matthew in the series. 'Robin of Sherwood' has a great following all around the world, and Jeremy attends the convention 'Spirit of Sherwood' in Novi, Michigan every year, work permitting. Another popular series he has appeared in is Doctor Who (1963) where he played Hal the Archer in 'The Time Warrior' with Jon Pertwee, and also Tor in the 'Space Museum' with William Hartnell as the Doctor.

Since the re-release of Star Wars in 1997, the interest in the character of Boba Fett has meant that Jeremy was invited to many sci-fi conventions and events all around the world. His fan mail has increased five-fold, and he managed somehow to reply to everyone that writes to him. In his little leisure time, he loved nothing more than a game of cricket with his friends. Jeremy also enjoyed travelling; in his last decades, he spent more time abroad than at home. He collected an awesome amount of Boba Fett memorabilia, some given to him by dedicated fans, and some he could not resist buying at toy fairs. His office at home resembles a Boba Fett museum.

Jeremy had three grown-up sons, and lived in London with his wife Maureen, and lucky black cat 'Percy.'

Prolific Manchester-born character actor Kenneth Colley gained something of a cult following for his role as Admiral Piett, commander of Darth Vader's flagship Executor, in the films Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). Colley came to acting the hard way, starting out as a general dogsbody, gopher and assistant in repertory theatre. In his own words: "...they threw you on stage in small parts so they didn't have to pay an actor. It's the traditional way, before drama schools came into being, so it's a long tradition. Well my drama school was the street. I have been with some of the best anyway. You know, Tony Hopkins, John Gielgud, Colin Blakely, Glenda Jackson. They don't come any better than those people."

Colley's professional theatrical acting career began in Leicester in 1961 and was followed by later spells with London's Old Vic, The Royal Court Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. His Shakespearean repertoire has included the histrionic Benedick of Much Ado about Nothing on stage and the softly spoken Duke Vincentio in The BBC Television Shakespeare (1978) instalment of Measure for Measure. Actually, his first screen outing was as a corpse in an episode of the science fiction series A for Andromeda (1961). For much of the sixties, Colley featured in popular TV shows, often in small roles as working class men or army privates. Between 1971 and 1991, Colley became part of Ken Russell's unofficial stock company of actors, regularly employed in the director's idiosyncratic films: most notably as dramatist Modest Tchaikovsky, younger brother of the famous composer, in The Music Lovers (1971); as Frédéric Chopin in Lisztomania (1975) and as Captain Alfred Dreyfus in Prisoner of Honor (1991), scapegoat at the centre of an infamous treason trial in 1890's France. Colley had smaller roles Russell's The Devils (1971) (Legrand), Mahler (1974) (journalist Siegfried Krenek) and The Rainbow (1989) (Mr. Brunt).

Colley has also been associated with the Monty Python crew, beginning with the off-beat medieval fantasy Jabberwocky (1977) in which he was directed by Terry Gilliam. Gilliam later revealed that the actor had a stutter in real life which disappeared whenever he was in front of the camera or on stage. Colley subsequently went on to appear in a brief scene as Jesus in the iconoclastic Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979). Arguably, one of his most memorable roles was as Michael Palin's bank robber pal in the Ripping Yarns (1976) episode The Testing of Eric Olthwaite. One of the funniest scenes had two of the world's most boring people enthuse endlessly about rain gauges, shovels and black puddings ("...some days even the white bits were black").

In addition to many performances in prime-time detective shows (The Baron (1966), Z Cars (1962), Foyle's War (2002)) and soaps (Coronation Street (1960), EastEnders (1985)), Colley has played numerous historical personae, including Charles I, Italy's King Vittorio Emmanuele, Dickens illustrator Robert Seymour, Admiral Horatio Nelson (a rare starring role in the miniseries I Remember Nelson (1982), focusing on the admiral's relationship with Emma Hamilton prior to the Battle of Trafalgar) and Napoleon Bonaparte. He has also frequently portrayed senior Nazi figures, both real and fictional. The former include Adolf Hitler, Wilhelm Keitel and Adolf Eichmann, the latter in Wallenberg: A Hero's Story (1985). The New York Times reviewer in April 1985 praised Colley's performance, saying "Mr. Colley's Eichmann is almost too good, reaching that not uncommon level where the villain threatens to become almost as fascinating as the hero." Moreover, Colley has been noted for his role as the fictional SS Standartenführer Paul Blobel in the miniseries War and Remembrance (1988).

A few other Colley screen personae are briefly worth mentioning: the veteran pirate Ben Gunn in Return to Treasure Island (1986), Soviet Air Force Colonel Kontarsky, charged with protecting the top secret fighter jet, code named Firefox (1982) and crime family boss Vicente Changretta, who came to a sticky end after messing with Tommy Shelby and the Peaky Blinders (2013). Colley has worked as writer/director and star on the ultra low budget horror film Greetings (2007), in which a group of youngsters using an Ouija board get more than they bargain for.

Kenneth Colley has been married since 1962 and is said to be residing in the market town of Hythe in the county of Kent.

Michael Pennington was born on 7 June 1943 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK. He is an actor and director, known for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), The Iron Lady (2011) and Hamlet (1969). He was previously married to Katharine Barker.

English actor Warwick Davis was born in Epsom, Surrey, England, the son of Susan J. (Pain) and Ashley Davis, an insurance broker. Davis was born with the condition spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenital (SED), which caused his dwarfism. He was educated at City of London Freemen's School. When he was 11 years old, his grandmother heard a radio appeal for people under four feet tall to appear in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). A huge Star Wars fan, Davis auditioned successfully and was cast as an extra, playing an Ewok. Kenny Baker was cast as lead Ewok Wicket, but fell ill so George Lucas chose Davis to replace him. The film was a smash hit, and Davis went on to reprise his role as Wicket in further TV projects - The Ewok Adventure (1984) and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985).

Davis next big role came with a part specifically written for him, as the titular hero in Willow (1988). Other successes followed with roles in such projects as Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989) and two distinctly different film series - the 'Harry Potter' and 'Leprechaun' film series. In 2006, he appeared in a cameo role in Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's hit sitcom Extras (2005), which led to the pair writing a series specifically for Davis, the comic mockumentary Life's Too Short (2011).

Davis, along with his father-in-law Peter Burroughs, is also the director of an acting agency for very short and tall actors called Willow Management. He is married to Samantha Davis and they have a son and a daughter.

Incisive, classically-trained English stage and screen actress, latterly often seen on TV as imperious titled ladies or dowagers. She was born Caroline Georgiana Blakiston in Chelsea, London, the daughter of archivist Hugh Noel Blakiston (1905-1984) and non-fiction author Rachel Georgiana Russell (1903-1995). A RADA graduate of 1957, Blakiston began her theatrical career that very same year at the Bristol Old Vic in the play Girls of Summer, written by N. Richard Nash. She appeared on diverse stages throughout England until joining the ensemble of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon between 1993 and 1997. From July 2001 to August 2003, Blakiston enjoyed a lengthy run as Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane.

On screen from 1962, Blakiston has appeared mainly on television, a notable exception being her role as Rebel Alliance leader Mon Mothma in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). During the 60s, she was often featured in guest spots for ITC productions like The Saint (1962), The Baron (1966), The Avengers (1961) and Department S (1969). Equally frequent were her forays into period drama. Those have included a much-lauded performance as Marjorie Ferrar in the 1967 BBC adaptation of The Forsyte Saga (1967), as well portrayals of Agrippina in The Caesars (1968), Lady Paulton in Raffles (1975), Frances Villiers, the Countess of Jersey, a mistress of the Prince Regent (1979) and governess Anna Brigmore in The Mallens (1979). More recently, she has been memorable as the acerbic, tough-as-nails Aunt Agatha in seasons 1-4 of Poldark (2015).

Blakiston also had a leading role in the cast of Rides (1992), a BBC drama series about an all-female crew of taxi drivers, produced by the Ealing-based production company Warner Sisters. In the compelling drama series Mr. Palfrey of Westminster (1984) she portrayed a British spy chief, known only as the 'Coordinator'. On the comedic side of life, Blakiston has co-starred opposite Timothy West as the alcoholic, aristocratic Lady Patience Hardacre in Granada's socio-economic satire Brass (1983) and as Alice Bannister in the marital sitcom The Last Song (1981). She also popped up in an episode of As Time Goes By (1992) as Margaret, the ex-wife of Lionel Hardcastle (Geoffrey Palmer).

Blakiston was at one time married to Scottish actor Russell Hunter with whom she had appeared on the stage in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Michael Carter was born on 29 June 1947 in Dumfries, Scotland, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), An American Werewolf in London (1981) and The Keep (1983).

Erik Bauersfeld was born on 28 June 1922 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) and Crimson Peak (2015). He died on 3 April 2016 in Berkeley, California, USA.

Femi Taylor was born on 8 April 1961 in Niger. She is an actress, known for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), The Apple (1980) and Great Performances (1971).

Claire Davenport was born on 24 April 1933 in Sale, Cheshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Elephant Man (1980), Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) and The Return of the Pink Panther (1975). She died on 25 February 2002 in London, England, UK.

Tim Rose was born on 17 July 1956 in Pittsfield, Illinois, USA. He is an actor, known for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), Howard the Duck (1986) and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015).

Richard Bonehill was born in 1949 in the UK. He was an actor, known for Top Secret! (1984), Rob Roy (1995) and George and the Dragon (2004). He was married to Lynne Gillian Bradshaw. He died on 29 January 2015 in Truro, Cornwall, England, UK.