Death In Entertainment
Kyle Ploof and Ben Kissel discuss Hollywood murders, true crime, on-set deaths and more!
Death In Entertainment
Force Ghosts: The Fallen Stars of Star Wars (Episode 164)
The legacy of Star Wars extends far beyond lightsabers and space battles—it lives in the remarkable humans who brought these iconic characters to life. From the reluctant Jedi to the princess who gave zero f*cks, this episode pulls back the curtain on the fascinating, sometimes tragic lives of the Star Wars actors who've joined the cosmic force.
Sir Alec Guinness might have hated the "mumbo jumbo" dialogue of Obi-Wan Kenobi, but his shrewd 2% royalty deal made him wealthy beyond imagination. Yet behind his disdain lurked a complicated man—a convert to Catholicism with arrest records suggesting a hidden sexuality in an era when such truths meant professional death. Meanwhile, Peter Mayhew transformed Chewbacca from a walking carpet into one of cinema's most beloved characters, his 7'3" frame and gentle nature making him the polar opposite of Guinness at conventions—embracing fans rather than telling them to never watch Star Wars again.
Carrie Fisher's journey from Hollywood royalty to space princess to mental health advocate stands as perhaps the most compelling story. Her battles with bipolar disorder and addiction never dimmed her razor-sharp wit, turning personal demons into literary gold through memoirs that peeled back celebrity's gilded veneer. When she passed away in December 2016, followed just one day later by her mother Debbie Reynolds, it felt like losing both royalty and family.
The men behind Darth Vader—David Prowse's intimidating physicality and James Earl Jones' resonant voice—remind us that even the greatest villains are team efforts. Prowse, who chose to play Vader over Chewbacca because "everyone remembers the villain," never saw his face on screen, while Jones transformed from a stuttering child into the voice that launched a thousand shivers down spines worldwide.
These actors created more than characters—they built a modern mythology that continues to resonate across generations. Want to hear more Hollywood tales from beyond the grave? Subscribe now and join us next week when we uncover another chapter in Death in Entertainment.
Death in Entertainment is hosted by Kyle Ploof and Ben Kissel.
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A long time ago, in a galaxy not that far away, hollywood gave us Jedi smugglers, droids and Death Stars, but behind the lightsabers and green screens lies a trail of space dust, because some of our beloved Star Wars cast members have boarded the final Star Cruiser and there's no return from hyperspace when you're six feet under. From Sir Alec Guinness, who hated Star Wars more than the Empire hates Ewoks, to Carrie Fisher, the princess-turned-space mom who gave zero fucks till the very end, and the actor who played Chewbacca, peter Mayhew, who proves even the gentlest of giants, go to the dark side. In this episode, we're digging into the strange, brilliant, tragic and, yes, sometimes hilariously awkward departures of people who made the Force feel real. So grab your cloaks, pour a blue milk cocktail and prepare for tales from beyond the outer rim. We're covering everyone's favorite Death Stars from the Star Wars franchise no longer with us. They are. That's today on Death in Entertainment.
Speaker 2:Live from Los Angeles, 911,. What is your emergency here in Hollywood now? Two counts of murder, injury and death. Oh my God, shocking new details. That has stunned the entertainment world. This makes me a little nervous. The hair stood up on my arms, just like in the movies. What do you call this thing anyway? Death in entertainment.
Speaker 1:Greetings Deado Universe.
Speaker 2:What's up everybody?
Speaker 1:How the heck are you? My name is Kyle Ploof.
Speaker 2:I'm Ben Kissel, Today's episode. You thought the drama between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker was intense. It's nothing compared to the behind-the-scenes drama of Star Wars.
Speaker 1:Yes, this is the podcast you're looking for. So here we go All right, I mean Star Wars, obviously such an iconic franchise. Do you remember the first, where you were when you first got introduced?
Speaker 2:No, because the first thing I watched was Spaceballs. I watched Mel Brooks' Spaceballs before I watched Star Wars, and then I watched Star Wars and I was like this isn't funny at all.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you watched the parody before you even knew what it was referencing. Absolutely, that's funny. I remember my cousin brought over three of the movies in the three VHS set, sure, and that was the first set I ever saw. So I was like, oh my God, this is going to be frigging huge.
Speaker 2:Usually, when I say the words of the first set I ever saw, I'm referring to my man boobs or breasts in a female. But all right, my balls, it works. Also, it was the greatest anti-US government propaganda ever created. Yeah, george Lucas, congratulations for that. Yeah, george.
Speaker 1:Lucas, congratulations for that. Yeah, and I remember we were probably seven years old somewhere around there and my family was throwing a party and they came in and they're like oh, you're watching Star Wars, you guys are going to love it, you're going to watch all three movies, you're going to love it so much and it amped me up so much to watch it and I was so happy and proud to have gotten through it.
Speaker 2:But at that I to drink alone and have us not bother them. Well, there you go, Put it where it's at For a reason to watch Star Wars. Let the kids go watch Yoda do questionable things with young Jedis and then just give up and die. Molest you, I will. All right, I'm done with my impressions.
Speaker 1:So here we go. We're starting off with Mr Obi-Wan Kenobi. From the original trio of movies. He was played by Alec Guinness. All from the original trio of movies. He was played by Alec Guinness.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 1:Alec Guinness. De Cuff was his last name. Hmm, so he, yeah, cut off the cuff.
Speaker 2:All right, just stuck with the Guinness.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was born on April 2nd 1914 in Maida Vale London.
Speaker 2:Hmm.
Speaker 1:Never heard of that.
Speaker 2:No, I have not.
Speaker 1:His lineage was always shrouded in mystery, a recurring theme in his life. Apparently, his birth certificate left the father's name blank and throughout his life Guinness suspected his true father might have been a Scottish banker.
Speaker 2:Well, the nice thing about having the name blank when it comes to father is you can make it up. Yeah, your dad can be anybody. How many people out there wish that their dad was just a blank and then you could be like no, he's not a drug addict who lives under a bridge. Yeah, he's a multimillionaire banker who abandoned the family because he wanted to go live in a suite in Scotland.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now I'm going to act about it. Yeah, nice. So his mother Agnes, she was eccentric, demanding. So his mother Agnes, she was eccentric, demanding and often emotionally unstable. It's Agnes, yeah, single motherhood. I mean, that's what you get in it for.
Speaker 2:Well, she's got to play both roles. She's got to be the man and the woman.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's very hard.
Speaker 2:It is.
Speaker 1:Guinness's early life was marked by financial hardship and emotional instability, but from a young age he found solace in a world of performance. Oh nice, you had to go out to, you know make believe I did as well.
Speaker 2:I remember I was first cast by the shoestring players. I played a tree, shoestring players. Yeah, I played a tree clever casting.
Speaker 1:Did they call it that? Just because they tied your shoes together and then watch me fall over like a fat asshole. No, but they did do that uh, he worked in advertising before studying at the fay compton studio of dramatic art okay by the age of 20.
Speaker 2:He was an understudy, like yourself and then you stole the guy's job oh, that's right, it bathed in arms, yeah, in high school sure he they say his quick, his talent was just immediately there.
Speaker 1:He served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve during World War II. Thank you for your service. I mean not Come on.
Speaker 2:Not really, it was the Volunteer Reserves. It was the Volunteer Reserves and he was in the theater department of the British Army Navy.
Speaker 1:He, notably, was involved in the invasion of Sicily.
Speaker 2:So he was there, oh Wow.
Speaker 1:And then he returned to acting with renewed perspective and discipline.
Speaker 2:Very good. I can't imagine the Sicilians that difficult to take. They're a laid-back people.
Speaker 1:They nap during the day, heavy carb loads yeah you know, when they don't have guns, because they're talking with their hands? Exactly, they're all Italian and shit. So his breakthrough film came in David Lean's adaptations of Dickens.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've seen that before.
Speaker 1:He played Herbert Pocket in Great Expectations in 1946 and Fagin in Oliver Twist in 1948.
Speaker 2:Whoa, whoa, whoa, buddy, be careful, we're walking the line there. He sparked both acclaim and controversy. Fagin and Oliver.
Speaker 1:Twist in 1948. Whoa, whoa, whoa, be careful, be careful, we're walking the line there. He sparked both acclaim and controversy due to the character's stereotypical portrayal. So it might be, what's that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, was he a gay character.
Speaker 1:It might be.
Speaker 2:They named the gay character Fagin.
Speaker 1:They might have.
Speaker 2:As long as he stayed on, brand drank Faggo and had a good time with it In 1957,.
Speaker 1:he cemented his place in film history by starring in Lean's epic the Bridge on the River Kwai. His portrayal of Colonel Nicholson earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor. So that's pretty freaking good. That's something. Yeah, it was a performance marked by complexity, blending pride, madness and military discipline in equal measure.
Speaker 2:All right, I mean again, he was like third squad Navy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, come on. Versatility was Guinness' calling card, they say, in 1949,. He was in a comedy, kind Hearts and Coronets, and he played eight different characters.
Speaker 2:Damn Good for him.
Speaker 1:Each a member of an aristocratic family. Okay, that's that word.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is Tough one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the performance was a master class in character transformation, both hilarious and haunting.
Speaker 2:So he had many roles before he worked for Star Wars.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so he was doing comedy and drama and losing himself in the roles.
Speaker 2:He was a real theater guy, real actor's actor. Exactly, exactly, okay.
Speaker 1:He took roles in Lawrence of Arabia, dr Chivago and A Passage to India. Oh. Each performance added to his reputation as one of the most meticulous and committed actors of his time.
Speaker 2:All right, I like that Meticulous.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so they're pretty much saying he's like the Marlon Brando of his time. I guess Got you.
Speaker 2:Did he gain a lot of weight? No, he didn't. Was he in the Island of Dr Moreau Then I don't think he was Marlon Brando.
Speaker 1:No, he didn't sleep with Richard Pryor either, did Marlon?
Speaker 2:Brando yeah, he did.
Speaker 1:Yeah, with.
Speaker 2:Richard Pryor Mm-hmm, really, wow, so hot.
Speaker 1:One of them caught fire yeah that's a steamy scene deleted from Hear no Evil, See no Evil. Yeah, I think they were doing it on the set of Superman or something. Really yeah Good for them. It was in 1977 that Alec Guinness became a household name for an entirely new generation because George Lucas cast him as Obi-Wwan kenobi in star wars. I love it obi-wan.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what's his real name? Ben or something? Ben kenobi, yeah it is ben kenobi right.
Speaker 1:Thank you yeah, finally, it's like pope bobby being pope leo the 14th right.
Speaker 2:He's just making shit up I'm also really pissed, when it comes to the new pope, that the the new york post didn't go with da pope. They went with chicago a play on Chicago Hope, which is a show no one cares about. Yeah, come on.
Speaker 1:It was right there.
Speaker 2:It really was, but let's get back to a robe of a different kind.
Speaker 1:Yes. So he wanted George Lucas, of course, he wanted gravitas and he wanted a really respected actor who could really sink his teeth into the role, even though they know it's like a space opera. It's a space opera, it's a fantasy.
Speaker 2:But again, I was watching this great interview with Mr Lucas and Steven Spielberg Maybe you've heard of them and he was talking about how all of the rhetoric when it comes to the parable that was Star Wars is true as far as the terrorist taking on the big bad machine that is the Death Star.
Speaker 1:So technically, USA, usa Well we were Darth Vader.
Speaker 2:Yes, we are the Death Star.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's why it was such a huge hit internationally, because everyone just pictured us as Darth Vader. Yes, exactly Like, let's fucking kill these guys, I'm Luke Skywalker. But even though he accepted the role as Darth Vader yes, exactly Like, let's fucking kill these guys, I'm Luke Skywalker, mm-hmm. But even though he accepted the role and he actually got a really good deal, he got like the Jack Nicholson deal where 2% of so Nicholson if you guys don't know, he played the Joker, obviously in 1989's Tim Burton's Batman, mm-hmm. He got a certain percentage of merchandise sales. Okay, batman, he got a certain percentage of merchandise sales and ended up becoming outrageously rich.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Mr Alec Guinness, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi. He made a deal which was like, if I'm going to be in this schlock, then I want 2% of all the movie gross across the world. Oh my, so he did really, really well. I mean, that is a Jedi move, yeah, wow. He wasn't a fan of the material. He referred to the dialogue as mumbo jumbo and later admitted he regretted taking the part, despite earning that 2% of the film's royalties, which made him incredibly wealthy.
Speaker 2:Oh, please. No, he doesn't regret that one bit. What kind of clout is he trying to maintain with the theater community?
Speaker 1:Seriously.
Speaker 2:Mumbo.
Speaker 1:Jumbo yeah, he's so scared of looking like he's sold out.
Speaker 2:Ah sell out. Yeah, I say it's not about selling out, it's about buying in. Yes, someone else is going to take the money. Exactly, might as well. Be you. Might as well, live comfortably. Who cares? Taco Bell Sure, it's the best. Hell yeah, unless Del Taco calls me, then Del Taco's the best. That's right. Which Del Taco is the best?
Speaker 1:Yeah, they come with good crinkle fries, so famously he once wrote the bad penny first dropped in San Francisco. When a sweet-faced boy of 12 years old told me proudly that he had seen Star Wars over 100 times, his mother proudly nodded in agreement. Looking into the boy's eyes, I thought I detected little future for him.
Speaker 2:Wait what? So he said this kid's going to be a loser.
Speaker 1:Yes, because he saw his movie 100 times when he was 12 years old.
Speaker 2:Little. Does he know that kid grew up to be Bill Gates?
Speaker 1:Guinness said he appreciated the money but loathed the typecasting that followed. So I think it's a little bit of sour grapes that he couldn't escape. You know, probably space Thomas.
Speaker 2:Being Obi-Wan Kenobi. He's not young Sheldon. Yeah, as far as typecasting goes, this role is at least. You're a sage, you're wise.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:People go to you with respect. I mean there's different like. I mean, look at Jaleel White. It took him so long to not be Urkel because he did such a great job as Urkel.
Speaker 1:I don't think he ever escaped it.
Speaker 2:I mean, I love Urkel yeah.
Speaker 1:He's going to cons. Now pretty much People are like oh my God, urkel, stefan, I love you Lean in.
Speaker 2:People love him. Same thing with the dude who played Ernest. Yes, jim Varney. Yep, he was all mad. He's like this rolls beneath me and I'm like no, you saved Christmas, you went to prison. You saved Halloween, you're a hero. Yes, eggs erroneous.
Speaker 1:There is a legend out there that he once told a young fan that if he watched Star Wars a hundred more times he'd drop dead, and allegedly the fan did. Oh, that's, it's an urban legend. I don't know if it's actually true or not, I don't I mean. I don't know. It's really fucked up. If it's true.
Speaker 2:It would be kind of fun if there was a mukbang guy who ate what Jabba the Hutt eats on a daily basis and does it on YouTube. Yeah, I watch a lot of those on YouTube because I'm trying to live vicariously through them and save money.
Speaker 1:It scratches the itch.
Speaker 2:Yeah, kind of Makes me hungry and want to be in Vegas, yeah, so Guinness found George Lucas' dialogue incomprehensible.
Speaker 1:What? And laughable. He said, quote I just couldn't go on speaking those bloody, awful banal lines. I shrivel inside each time it's repeated.
Speaker 2:Oh, please Like. Ursula shrunk him in the bottom of the ocean Come on.
Speaker 1:He reportedly asked George Lucas a million times if they could just please kill off Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he could just escape.
Speaker 2:No bro. No, you're way too important to the story. He was like no, please, absolutely not.
Speaker 1:He was incredibly uncomfortable with how fans treated their star wars like religion. He famously told this story. Yeah, another another guy said that he'd seen the movie a bunch of times and he said do you think you could promise never to see it?
Speaker 2:again and he cried. He just makes his fans cry all the time.
Speaker 1:Oh my lord uh, he sent seemed genuinely perturbed that people would fixate on such a movie over more meaningful art. Like what, like what? Bridge over the River Kwai.
Speaker 2:Oh my god, I can't. I hate actors who take acting seriously. I know I know you have to, and obviously you have to love it to be good at it, yeah, but just I don't want to hear about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he hated getting fan letters. He said about it yeah, um he, he hated getting fan letters. He said it was rubbish. What that he had to read them. You don't have to, he just was on. Yeah, you can set him on fire, throw him in the trash it's fine.
Speaker 2:I kind of like this guy now. All the love, all the attention. I can't.
Speaker 1:I hate it yeah but he was a very private guy so people didn't realize he was a devout catholic, okay, and um, that's pretty much. It offended his religion that people were treating Star Wars like religion.
Speaker 2:Well, there's a lot of Catholic undertones, there's a lot of religious undertones. It doesn't negate religion. If anything, it props up religion.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's true, you know. People are dying. Coming back to life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't think anyone's worshipping Princess Leia. I mean not in the way that they worship Jesus. When she was wearing that bathing suit they wear Well of course, but again, not in the way they worship Jesus, although there is a large contingency of gay Christians who they watch Passion of the Christ for a different reason.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the irony is that he gave one of the most grounded, dignified performances in star wars absolutely, and the kind that elevated it from campy sci-fi into something actually mythic. He did it, yeah, so without him the original film might have never been taken seriously. Um, it's crazy too, because they never really knew what was going to happen. My, my television writing mentor from ucla he, his roommate at the time, was mark hamill. Okay, and mark hamill was like I, to fly to Tunisia because we're filming this weird movie called Blue Moon. I don't know what's going to happen. I'll see you in six months. Whatever, all right Comes back, the movie comes out and he ends up being the biggest movie star of the year in 1977, because it was the biggest thing. So the fake name for the movie was Blue Moon. It was Blue Harvest, I think it was called Blue Harvest, yeah, and then they called it Star Wars. Wow.
Speaker 2:And then, just For those that don't know, they always do that when they were filming Batman the one with Bane they filmed it downtown in New York City, in Wall Street, and the name of the movie was Monster Movie. And they said you got to clear out of your apartments. Monster Movie's coming through. But then there was a bunch of Gotham police cars fake Gotham police cars. I was like they're making Batman. And then I watched one of the car jump scenes. Oh, that's sick. It was pretty cool. Hell yeah. I was like can I be in the movie? Am I in the movie now In?
Speaker 1:1956, like I said, he converted actually to Roman Catholicism, so he would have been pumped about a new pope.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, absolutely Everyone is.
Speaker 1:He said you know that profoundly shaped the rest of his life. But at the same time he is struggling internally. So he didn't seem like a super happy guy anyway, because he also struggled with his sexuality.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Something that was never publicly addressed. Arrest records from the 1940s suggest a possible hidden life, but Guinness remained guarded, a man shaped by the taboos and social mores of his era.
Speaker 2:So he was arrested in the 1940s for having sex with a man. Yeah, interesting. And he never, obviously, at this point in Hollywood, that would get you blacklisted, wouldn't it? Even though they're all doing it.
Speaker 1:These are not the charges you're looking for.
Speaker 2:Exactly Jedi mind trick indeed.
Speaker 1:But he had a lot of stuff going on so he took things seriously. He was knighted in 1959. Nothing gay about that so was Elton John.
Speaker 2:Yes, of course, as he should be. All the best gay guys get knighted. No straight man cares about being knighted. I don't believe, but I don't know. I'm not British.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he remained active as a knight. What do you do? What do you do?
Speaker 2:Show up to Ren Fairs. Oh, that's awesome. We were going to go to a Ren Fair this weekend, but it's going to be too hot. My under tits are going to sweat too much and we would melt. They're going to put me in the stocks and feed me burritos.
Speaker 1:His memoirs Blessings in Dis, in disguise, apparently are reflective, witty and filled with subtle regret and wisdom. Hmm, okay, it's unfortunate, obi-wan Kenobi.
Speaker 2:It is unfortunate, if he is gay, that he was forced to live a secret life and of course we do have to remember that and we don't want to go back to that time period. Everyone should be allowed to be out and free, no matter what Out and about Indeed. Even if you're a straight white man who is under attack the most in America, don't even get me going. Don't even get me going. They're coming for us. Don't even get me going.
Speaker 1:Alec Guinness died on August 5, 2000.
Speaker 2:Oh wow, Old guy From liver cancer.
Speaker 1:So how old was he then?
Speaker 2:He was 86. Good for him. Yep, Yep. And then he got 86 from life, Indeed from liver cancer. The fun way out, baby, let's go.
Speaker 1:Just days earlier his wife had also passed away, so within a couple days they ended a marriage of over 60 years. Wow, yeah, that's sad. I mean that happens all the time.
Speaker 2:It does.
Speaker 1:It happened my father lost his wife and then, 54 weeks later, almost exactly a year, he was gone.
Speaker 2:They say with Johnny Cash. When June Cash died which is unbelievably shocking, she died before Johnny that Johnny died of a broken heart. But then his friends say, no, june just gave him his pills on time and then, when she died, he stopped taking them and then he died Damn, he was only in his early 70s too. And you look at Johnny Cash in that Hurt music video. I thought he was like 100. I love Johnny but holy hell hard living.
Speaker 1:The news of his death brought tributes from around the world, from the stage, the screen and, yes, the Star Wars universe. Ewan McGregor, who played the younger Obi-Wan, called him a giant of the profession, which he would be like. Don't even say my name, Don't mention me, Ewan. He left behind a body of work that continues to inspire and he proved that an actor doesn't need to be over the top or larger than life to captivate the screen.
Speaker 2:No, the irony is, when it comes to television acting, it's opposite of stage acting. The most minute detail is large, as opposed to the inverse, which is why it's so difficult for WWE superstars to translate to the small screen, because you want your face to be seen by the last guy in an arena and on the small screen you want it to be really tiny. That's why Dave Bautista is doing so well.
Speaker 1:Yes, you need stillness, subtleness, restraint and humility, all of which he had in RIP.
Speaker 2:I don't got none of that Alec.
Speaker 1:Guinness.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's not me. Maybe I have a Guinness. That's about it. Oh man, they say this Guinness Zero is supposed to be really good. That's pretty good. I might try that as a placebo for beer, although if I'm not drinking I want something sweet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, that's just me, peter Mayhew. He was the man who played Chewbacca.
Speaker 2:Oh, I was going to say Are we going to get to Jar Jar at any point? Yeah, thank God, I love Jar Jar. They were like hey, mr Lucas, can you put a person of color in this, like a black dude? We're like, yeah, sure, yeah me, some master, we're going to make him real dumb.
Speaker 1:Peter William Mayhew was born May 19, 1944, in Barnes, london, so we got two Londonites here.
Speaker 2:I love that. Londoners, londoners and this is another indictment on the sizism of Hollywood they made my people all covered up in fur. We ain't a goddamn Sasquatch or a Chewbacca, we're people.
Speaker 1:That's right. From an early age, it was clear he was different. By his teenage years, peter was already over six feet tall. Good, good for him, cool for him. And he ended up at seven feet three inches good for him dang, I think that's taller than yaoming it might be, I think he was just seven no, no, no, yaoming was I think seven, three, seven, four.
Speaker 2:Oh he was, he's in that realm, yeah damn.
Speaker 1:His immense height was due to marfan syndrome oh, he had the giantism disease yeah, so marfan is a connective tissue disorder that affects growth and joint flexibility. I mean it doesn't affect growth, it compounds it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the effect. Dummy Marfan syndrome sounds like he's having a marshmallow as a nougat. Hey, yummy, that's kind of exciting, but you can get. So Andre the Giant had this as well, and you can get a surgery that nips it Literally. They cut this thing in your body so it's just like, all right, let's stop growing. But I'm not sure if that surgery was around at that point yet because it leads to an early death.
Speaker 1:Wow, Despite his size, Peter was soft-spoken and kind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we have to be. I'm so sick of this gentle giant shit. It's because we have to be. That's why, jerry, from OK Bud, she gets to yell and yell and yell. Everyone's like, oh, it's cute, she's harmless, and if I even raise my freaking voice, yeah, it's trouble.
Speaker 1:It's a problem Mm-hmm Dang it. He trained as an engineer and worked at a hospital as an orderly at King's College Hospital in London.
Speaker 2:I mean, that is a little bit scary.
Speaker 1:That'd be terrifying. You want your pudding? Okay, he didn't sound like that.
Speaker 2:He was soft-spoken. Yeah, you want your pudding. You're scaring us. Yeah, please you wait until your boy is seven feet tall and you'll see how this size-ism works for you when he's bonking you on the head. Give me my allowance, Dad.
Speaker 1:It was there, quietly pushing patients through corridors, that fate found him. In 1976, mayhew was cast in a film called Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, cool Playing a minotaur. No kidding, that's pretty sick.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's almost like you can't get cast as a human being. No, that's fine.
Speaker 1:That small role caught the eye of producer Charles Schneer and, more importantly, someone else in the industry who was paying attention. That someone was George Lucas Dang. When Lucas was casting for a new science fiction movie called Star Wars, he needed someone physically imposing to play Chewbacca, the Wookiee co-pilot of the Millennium Falcon. At first he considered 6'6'' David Prowse Okay, and that name's going to come up later because that's the man who played under the mask of Darth Vader.
Speaker 2:Oh, no kidding.
Speaker 1:And he was in Clockwork Orange too.
Speaker 2:Fantastic. Yeah, that's a great movie. Scary scene there when they invade that home. Oh my God.
Speaker 1:When Mayhew walked into the audition room and simply stood up, they said you got the role pal.
Speaker 2:See. Finally, one for my people. Just like thateter, mayhew became chewbacca. I love chewbacca. He and harrison ford are such a fun uh duo. I've been told when I'm skinny and attractive, that I look a bit like harrison ford oh yeah yeah, I was told by that.
Speaker 1:I was told, someone told me that yeah, chewbacca wasn't a speaking role, but peter didn't need the dialogue. Through posture, timing and subtle body language, he turned a furry alien into the most beloved characters in cinema history.
Speaker 2:He really did and it also led to that woman in her car when she put her Chewbacca mask on.
Speaker 1:Oh my god, and she was laughing and laughing.
Speaker 2:Remember that innocent time in America where the internet was just like look at this woman laughing about Chewbacca. And then now it's just people putting cats in bags and hitting them on trees.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so anytime you would open your mouth in that mask, you let out the Chewbacca. Oh good job. And there was a woman who was in labor pains and her husband put the mask on her, so every time she was screaming.
Speaker 2:Oh, there's another one.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's hilarious, she's screaming, holding her stomach about to give birth, and it just keeps he's going. Brrrr, be careful you might birth yourself a little hairy rodent person. Yep. He studied animals, especially gorillas and dog, to inform Chewbacca's movements.
Speaker 2:That's brilliant. Yeah, you know, he's a student of the game and, of course, john Candy, who parodied him, was a dog. That's true. A walk, a man dog.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 2:A mog, I guess gotta walk.
Speaker 1:He was all man. Yeah, he added grace to the beast.
Speaker 2:He did so. Loyalty to the warrior, humor, humor to the sidekick. It must have been hot as a noot sack in utah. Oh, I'm sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my god, the original one, at least. They were in tunisia in the desert, oh, and they were all dying. The guy who played r2d2 there was a guy actually in there, yes, I know, and they he was a little person and they used to forget that he was in there. So I'd have to like oh bang on it to be like get me out of here.
Speaker 1:I'm literally cooking in here oh, poor guy, it was a crock pot, seriously so he played chewbacca in the original trilogy and then reprised the role in revenge of the in 2005 and the force awakens in 2015. So he went all the way from 77 to 2015.
Speaker 2:That is very impressive, and for his size again, we don't live very long, especially he's six inches taller than me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, as age and health issues began to affect his mobility, he passed the torch to Finnish actor Junus Suotamo. Oh, that doesn't sound Finnish?
Speaker 2:It doesn't, but you never know what's happening over there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he actually trained under Peter's guidance to continue Chewbacca's legacy, so he was giving him the inside scoop. This is how you do it.
Speaker 2:It does go to show you like oh, I got cast, I'm wearing a fur suit, I don't have any dialogue. I guess this isn't going to work out for anything, but just put your heart into it.
Speaker 1:And look, look what happened. He became one of the most iconic characters of all time. Yeah, off screen, peter was every bit as warm as the Wookiee he portrayed. Fans recall his gentle hugs, towering presence and unwavering generosity at conventions. So he's the absolute opposite of Alec Guinness, who told people to go kill themselves, right.
Speaker 2:I mean, I kind of like both approaches in a way.
Speaker 1:Somewhere in the middle is pretty good. Yeah, yeah, he never grew tired of signing autographs, posing for photos and thanking people who loved the galaxy far, far away. I love that. Yeah, he moved to the United States, married Angie Luker and became a US citizen in 2005. So that took a long time. Yes, it did. It does take quite a while, even if you're trying to do it the right way. I mean especially the only way to do it the right way, yep it takes a minute.
Speaker 2:Maybe we need to fix that a little bit, but it is what it is, yeah.
Speaker 1:He was deeply involved in charity work, especially for children's hospitals and wounded warrior projects.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:Imagine that.
Speaker 2:Yep, just losing your leg, and then all of a sudden Chewbacca. Did he dress as Chewbacca? I don't know. Either way, it'd be terrifying. It'd be kind of cool if it was Chewbacca.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:This guy yeah.
Speaker 1:Like who's this tall motherfucker?
Speaker 2:Right, I mean, that's the one thing about us tall folks. We're not good in war. You coming to take my other leg? Yeah, I'll take your leg from you.
Speaker 1:Peter also started the Peter Mayhew Foundation, dedicated to alleviating disease, pain and suffering, whether helping families in crisis.
Speaker 2:He's the only guy that during a hurricane he's just walking. They're like he must be on stilts, like no.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm just a hero. All this water is just waist high and it's like 10 feet. Yeah.
Speaker 1:He lived with chronic pain due to his size and condition, but rarely complained. He had multiple spinal surgeries. He used a cane, then a wheelchair, then he continued to appear for fans when he could. Peter mayhew may have been quiet, but he was never small.
Speaker 2:He was no, he was never small I don't think anyone accused him of being small. Yeah, who accused? Was that a quote or did you make that up? That's a quote? Yeah, what? What? Moron said that, not me. He may have been quiet, but he was no shit. He's chewbacca. They should have said about r2-D2. Right, that's true too All right.
Speaker 1:On April 30th 2019, peter Mayhew passed away at his home in North Texas. He was 74 years old.
Speaker 2:Everything's bigger in Texas.
Speaker 1:I mean 74 for being that tall is. You know that's Hall of Fame level.
Speaker 2:He made it one year past his height. Yeah, 73 made it to 74. Not too shabby.
Speaker 1:The tributes poured in from Mark Hamill, who called him the gentlest of giants, to Harrison Ford, who said Peter was a kind, gentle man. Possessed great dignity and noble character.
Speaker 2:I love that. A little side note if you are a gamer out there, check out Indiana Jones, the new Circle of Something, Stone Circle or something bullshit like that, but it's a really fun video game. Check it out.
Speaker 1:J circle or something bullshit like that, but it's a really fun video game. Check it out. Yeah, jj abrams, who came in late to the game with the final trilogy, said peter was a wonderful man. He was the closest any human being could be to a wookiee.
Speaker 2:I don't know what is this? Wait, come on closest to a wookiee. Aren't they supposed to be like a war people as well? He had a gun, yeah the wookies are bullets going across his chest. This is the problem. Oh, you gotta be nice and now, all of a sudden, people think you're weak.
Speaker 1:We gotta bring back bonking, just a bonk fans worldwide mourn not just an actor but a friend, a presence that felt steady, comforting and forever part of their childhood. I love that. Yeah, he was laid to rest in texas and later that year a private memorial was held at the Empire Con Star Wars convention in Los Angeles, where fans gathered to share stories, tears and laughter.
Speaker 2:Oh now do you go extra large coffin or you break the legs at the knee? I've had this conversation many times.
Speaker 1:I have never seen an extra large coffin, so I think that you just bend the knee break it off or they put it back all the way so his ankles are in his ears, yeah open casket, like why his feet are up there yeah, does some stripper stuff and uh yeah, but uh it, he taught us something special without ever uttering a word on screen in any of the movies he was ever in, of course.
Speaker 2:I mean he did but he, that was wookiee talk yeah so he was uttering words in wookiee. It was speech I guess which. I'm sure somebody knows. Oh yeah, there's got to be.
Speaker 1:There's people who know Klingon. They've got to know Wookiee. Oh yeah, there was some guy at Thirsty Merchant one time that was speaking Klingon and I was like this is At the bar in public.
Speaker 2:huh, and that's your match. Yeah, that's my love language. Yes, wookiee or Klingon.
Speaker 1:So rest in peace. To Peter Mayhew, I mean.
Speaker 2:Klingons are going to fuck. Oh yeah, Non-stop.
Speaker 1:And they're going to be bashing their foreheads together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're a war people. Yeah, yeah, and I'm sure the Wookiee does some nice sensitive finger popping.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wookiee Nookie baby. Oh yeah, give it to me. They're all for the Wookiee Nookie Up. Next we have Princess Leia herself. Carrie Fisher.
Speaker 2:I love Carrie Fisher. Did you ever see her one-woman show? I did not. It is fantastic. Yeah, yeah, she's so funny.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she's great Her interviews and stuff. She's really funny Anything I and, where she's just being herself.
Speaker 2:She had a lot of ups and downs, a lot of emotional issues, yes, but nothing. A couple of glasses of wine can't fix or cause Some of the issues, I'm sure as well.
Speaker 1:I didn't know she was Hollywood royalty until this past week.
Speaker 2:Well, who were her parents?
Speaker 1:Her parents, she was born. So Carrie Fisher was born October 21st 1956, in Beverly Hills. Oh okay Into what many consider Hollywood royalty. Oh, 1956 in Beverly Hills.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay Into what many consider Hollywood royalty.
Speaker 1:Oh okay, Her mother was actress and singer Debbie Reynolds.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, of course.
Speaker 1:Best known for singing in the rain, and her father was pop crooner Eddie Fisher.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, Wow, I didn't realize that either. Well, good for her.
Speaker 1:She was born into the biz.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of they say nepo babies now.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And they are all over the place in Hollywood. But that's alright, you just gotta work harder. Yeah, you gotta work harder if you're from the Midwest or from Boston, that's right Like Kyle and Kissel.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the glamour was deceptive. When Carrie was just two years old, her father left her mother for Elizabeth Taylor.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean again, as we've talked about on OK Bud, if you get left for Elizabeth Taylor, as that woman you're like my cooch is good.
Speaker 1:What are you going to do?
Speaker 2:Yeah, what are you going to do? He left me for Elizabeth Taylor, and then Elizabeth Taylor, I'm sure, chewed him up and spit him out, like she did every guy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:So I think the mom probably won out in the end.
Speaker 1:A scandal, apparently, that rocked the entertainment world.
Speaker 2:crooner or eddie, I'm sure it did eddie fisher went over to elizabeth taylor?
Speaker 1:I'm sure it did. Uh, obviously this brought instability to her childhood and that would echo throughout her adult life. Still, carrie was bright, funny and curious absolutely. She appeared in her mother's stage shows as a teen but had other dreams. She briefly attended the central school of speech and drama. Okay, that's a weird pairing speech and and drama.
Speaker 2:Well, why you can't have drama?
Speaker 1:without speech, but speech just sounds like you're an orator, or a narrator perhaps?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was such a bad kid. My mom took me to hearing and speech classes because she thought I was deaf and couldn't talk. But really, I just wasn't listening and then I didn't speak. Hey, just a bad kid I spoke all weird Because I think I have some autism or something. Yeah, maybe I don't know I got something wrong with my brain. We all got it. Yeah, man, I've been loving that love on the spectrum by the way. Oh, it's the best, so cute, that one couple, the one girl who sings.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she loves the gummies.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and he's like maybe we can share and she's like, you can get your own.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you gotta get your own pal. You brought that gift for her.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm. So this Central School of Speech and Drama was in London, so all these people were in London at one point or another. Ok, makes sense. At just 19 years old, carrie made her feature film debut in Shampoo.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, I remember that film. I didn't watch it, yeah. Nor do I use it. I remember it. I love the sequel Conditioner you get it, yeah.
Speaker 1:There was another movie called Soap Dish.
Speaker 2:There was a moment of very little creativity. I get my best ideas in the shower. Yeah, this movie's called Drain.
Speaker 1:Oh, and that's what it did to their pockets. Oh, but of course, it was two years later, in 1977, that everything changed. Hmm, star Wars exploded into the cultural zeitgeist, and Carrie Fisher, as Princess Leia Organa, became a global icon.
Speaker 2:Yes, she did, my God. Every boy and probably a lot of gals had their first thoughts of sexuality looking at her with that big old, fat Jabba the Hutt. Like let me get a hold of those cinnamon buns Please. You know, jabba the Hutt was originally a dude. Isn't Jabba the Hutt a dude? No, but like no, it's that big old, fucking slime creature now.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But no, it was originally like a person. Oh it was a guy, Okay yeah, and he was all fat and stuff.
Speaker 1:And then they recast it it's like this big old sludge dude. Yeah, like you're not fat enough.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you couldn't be fat enough. Look at him huge.
Speaker 1:Yes, uh, she was equipped with a laser pistol a no-nonsense attitude. And leah was unlike any female character science fiction had seen before, because she was, you know, strong.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she was kicking ass she wasn't just a damsel in distress.
Speaker 1:Help me but then she kind of had to do that too. She literally does say help me, you're my only hope.
Speaker 2:You got to play the game. You got to play the game. Everyone needs help sometimes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, behind the scenes. People didn't know it at the time, but Carrie was struggling. She had an on-set affair with her co-host, harrison Ford, which they had an on-screen affair too. Yes, they did, and it was later revealed in her memoir, the Princess Diarist. She was also dealing with bipolar disorder. Oh, I didn't realize, though she hadn't been diagnosed yet and she was beginning to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol, right, and that was everything cocaine, acid pills, heroin, right. The pressure of fame, the expectations of beauty and her own inner battles were a storm brewing beneath the surface. Carrie's struggles with addiction and mental illness were not hidden forever. In fact, she became one of the most candid, hilarious and honest voices on the subject.
Speaker 2:Yes, she did.
Speaker 1:So she was doing, you know, like I said, cocaine, acid, heroin, everything. She's cool. She said she never liked the feeling of being high, she just hated the feeling of being herself without it. Man.
Speaker 2:I understand that. A lot of people can understand that I mean obviously for me. I know people have done a lot more of sobriety than I have because I'm still smoking my sweet herb. But just in this, you know, as I'm working with my life and alcohol, it is interesting because you're like, oh, I'm kind of like this sometimes.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And yeah, it's kind of fascinating. But you know what? I'm learning to like myself. Yeah, I'm learning to like myself. You have to. You got no other choice.
Speaker 1:No, you're stuck in here. You only got one life, one body.
Speaker 2:You're stuck in here. Yeah, you ever. Why can't it be somebody else? But everyone struggles.
Speaker 1:We all do that. She was diagnosed with bipolar in her 20s and then later described her manic episodes and depression In her memoirs particularly Wishful, drinking and Shockaholic. She peeled back the celebrity curtain so she told everybody she went to rehab in the 80s after a near-fatal overdose Dang. She cleaned up, she relapsed. She cleaned up again, she relapsed. She cleaned up again, she relapsed, just bouncing off the same problems, right right. She wrote about her journey in Postcards from the Edge, which became a movie starring Meryl Streep.
Speaker 2:I like that. Postcards from the Edge Very cool.
Speaker 1:Carrie turned her trauma into art, sold it and then joked about it at dinner parties.
Speaker 2:Well, good for her. And that is the power of humor.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it can do too much masking. But also you got to laugh to get through all of these difficult things because at the end of the day it really doesn't matter. It does, but it also doesn't, so just laugh.
Speaker 1:Exactly. She told everybody she did electroshock therapy. Oh no, which the people? They still do it apparently, but it apparently. But people used to do it way more. Back in the day they uh made one of the I think rose, not rose one of the kennedys just became completely brain dead because they did it like way too hard and way too much.
Speaker 2:yeah there's a special needs, kennedy. They keep under the stairs yeah like the people under the stairs. That's true, kennedy under the stairs. Yeah, it's a bizarre, bizarre family, inbred yeah, yes, like any royal family, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:So she did the electroshock, she talked about it, she said it helped. Okay. She said it wiped some memories, but not the important ones, like where I parked or who disappointed me.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, that's one way not to have to deal with the past. Just wipe it away. Yeah, hey, you know I'll take it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, carrie wasn't just surviving, she was script writing, script doctoring and speaking. It's the school of speech. Yes, indeed, she worked behind the scenes. This is crazy. I didn't realize because I saw it on our IMDb and I thought it was an error. She was script doctoring and punched up Hook Sister Act and the Wedding Singer. Damn that's hilarious, the three random movies. I love that.
Speaker 2:just a weird it was hook wedding singer. And which one sister act, sister act. All three of those movies are hits. For those that don't know, whoopi goldberg wasn't just a chatty kathy on that view show, which is unwatchable she used to be the funniest actress and a great stand-up comedian and she also had a great one woman show. But whatever, yeah, there's a whole generation that are never gonna know her for. And a great stand-up comedian and she also had a great one-woman show, mm-hmm, but whatever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a whole generation that are never gonna know her for that.
Speaker 1:Nope Comic relief nothing.
Speaker 2:No, it's like the opposite of George Foreman. I just know him as a guy who sold grills and then other people were like, oh, he was the scariest motherfucker that's ever lived.
Speaker 1:And, and Georgette, yeah, and he was the Midas guy. He's the best. He sold brake pads for two decades. Why not? In 1983, return of the Jedi gave us the now infamous gold bikini.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm that was a little weird. That was a little strange. It's a good thing she wasn't allergic to gold. Yeah, it would have rashed up all the wrong places, right.
Speaker 1:Something Carrie would later criticize as both objectifying and absurd.
Speaker 2:Oh, she wasn't happy with that she had her problems with it.
Speaker 1:yeah, but I mean it sold the movie.
Speaker 2:It was very true, and you know I understand Hollywood. But I'm gonna say selfishly, I'm very happy that she did it. Yeah, for sure, but that's just my. I understand her point of view as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but she played along and then she made fun of it later in life. Yeah, so she had many lives. A cult icon, a recovering addict and a loving but chaotic mother to her daughter, billie Lord, and an outspoken mental health advocate. Absolutely, in 2015,. She returned to the screen, as you know, leia Organa as the General Leia, not Princess anymore.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:She got an upgrade.
Speaker 2:Well, wait until Meghan Markle hears that that's a possibility. I'm a Duchess now I'm a General. Apparently, meghan Markle. She sold a bath salt recipe. Like the drugs, no like to sit in the tub and get all comfortable Like Epsom salt. Yeah, because you have a bad job and you're all stressed out and you want to sit in the tub and while a while you know. But then this woman uh, she got a whole rash all over her body so she's gonna sue.
Speaker 1:Oh god, that funny megan, what are you doing?
Speaker 2:who knows?
Speaker 1:uh. So they say that this promotion mirrored her real life evolution from ingenue to season leader. I love that. It was a homecoming that brought tears to many eyes, especially for those who had grown up with her in the roles. And one of the weirdest things is that she died in the movie and then all of a sudden did you see it? Which one Force Awakens. She dies in the movie, she's out in space and then all of a sudden wills herself back to life and flies back into the spaceship she was just exploded out of.
Speaker 2:Oh, fantastic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, can't die, you know.
Speaker 2:I love that. It's like when you get kicked out of the bar but you sneak in through the back door. Yeah, exactly. Go to a different bartender who doesn't know you've been 86 for the night. Don't tell me what are you? Doing in here. Yeah, I'm fine, come here.
Speaker 1:I need to give you my card again. She came back and unfortunately, she couldn't do that in real life. On December 23rd 2016, carrie Fisher suffered a heart attack on a flight from London to Los Angeles.
Speaker 2:Dude, fantastic time to check out. Yeah, Honestly, 2016, that's a great year to just be like. Peace, human beings. I'm off to visit the Star Lord On a cozy 11-hour flight. Yeah, why not? Yeah, I'm sure she was sitting. First class, you get treated well. Yeah, why not?
Speaker 1:I'm sure she was sitting first class, you get treated well. Yeah, that's true, get a snack. She was returning from a book tour promoting the Princess Diarist, okay, so four days later, on December 27th, she passed away at the age of 60.
Speaker 2:Dang, she was really young.
Speaker 1:Well, that's the thing about cocaine.
Speaker 2:When you're doing it very heavily for a very long amount of time. You're you know, but hadn't she stopped for a while?
Speaker 1:Eh oh, she was kind of dabbling throughout.
Speaker 2:Yeah, All right, that's a no more cocaine everybody.
Speaker 1:Cow. It hardens your arteries, it restricts them, yeah, so it makes your whole circulatory system like kind of go to shit.
Speaker 2:Ah, I see Very early.
Speaker 1:I guess you don't want that. No, in a moment so surreal it could have been scripted. Her mother, debbie Reynolds, died the next day. Dang. She reportedly told people I want to be with Carrie.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's so sad. It is sad. Well, hopefully they're together right now, looking down on this very podcast and saying you guys, you're blowing it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Talk about us more. Yeah, two out of three of the people we've covered so far have died of broken hearts.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:That was both heartbreaking and strangely fitting.
Speaker 2:When I die, I have a joint memorial as well. Each and every one of you roll up a J-Joe oh yeah, smoke it up. My buddy used to say when I die, scrape my lungs out and roll it up and smoke it. My buddy, jared, used to say that, but he's still alive.
Speaker 1:So yeah, we got time for that.
Speaker 2:Can't do it now. I think it's mostly nicotine in there. Probably, carrie, probably.
Speaker 1:Carrie's ashes were partially buried and partially placed in a giant Prozac-shaped urn.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 1:Chosen by her daughter.
Speaker 2:That's hilarious. It was classic Carrie, brutally honest deeply personal and darkly funny and cozy. Yeah, I feel like you can kind of turn around. It's more circular. Yeah, that's kind of nice.
Speaker 1:So in the Star Wars universe Leia was royalty, but in the real world, carrie Fisher was a warrior for truth, recovery and for love.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and not to mention unbelievably funny. Yeah, she was so freaking hilarious.
Speaker 1:Well, I don't know anybody that's had a problem with drugs. That isn't funny, right.
Speaker 2:It's like that just comes with the territory. It's the curse of the comedian, the actor, the artist, really. Yeah, exactly, and the well, everyone's an artist in their own right. You know the construction worker? Yeah, the person who works on cars. A lot of people do drugs.
Speaker 1:So RIP Carrie Fisher Absolutely. In another story we have here the man Behind the Mask, david Charles Prowse. He was born on July 1st 1935 in where, bristol, england.
Speaker 2:The whole damn cast is English. This is why it's so anti-American.
Speaker 1:Except for Mark Hamill.
Speaker 2:Wow, and also the English. Your empire is the worst. Yeah, just talk to the Indians.
Speaker 1:Seriously Raised by a single mother, he grew up tall, strong and determined. Early on, he was drawn to physical fitness and bodybuilding.
Speaker 2:He was fucking big on strong men. That's what everyone wanted me to do, too. I was like I really like Chris Farley and John Candy. Yeah, they're fat and they died young. Yeah, I kind of like that. Yeah, so do bodybuilders. They die young too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because steroids also, they don't discriminate what muscles they're making bigger. Your heart gets huge and it can't pump itself anymore. See, yeah, boom, no steroids everybody. By the time he was in his 20s, david was a dominant force in British weightlifting. He won the British heavyweight weightlifting championship multiple times and represented England in the 1958 Commonwealth Games.
Speaker 2:How'd he do.
Speaker 1:He represented.
Speaker 2:You know, we lost to the Irish, the Scottish big old brutes.
Speaker 1:He wasn't just strong, he was imposing, he was 6'6" and he turned heads wherever he went. Is that what you are, 6'6"?
Speaker 2:I'm 6'7" 6'7". Yep, nice Yep, for better or for worse.
Speaker 1:Yeah, his dedication to physical excellence eventually landed him in the orbit of the film industry.
Speaker 2:I feel like people were more respectful of tall people. They don't just make straight up about them Because you know the tall people are just very because they're small, and so they put all this stuff on us.
Speaker 1:I'm just trying to walk, I just want to walk to school.
Speaker 2:I just want to be a normal person, damn it. I just want to walk my books to school, please.
Speaker 1:If you needed a bodybuilder, a superhuman on screen, david got the call sounds like you would have been a kick-ass jason vorhees or michael myers. Yeah it's crazy because I didn't realize. I mean, yeah, he grew up, he was born. When I say 35, that's so crazy because I I saw him in a clockwork orange. I originally. I saw that for the first time recently and he just looked so young. But it's also 1971 wasn't that old 26? Yeah, I guess that's so crazy. That's just numbers. Numbers are weird to me.
Speaker 2:Okay, fantastic.
Speaker 1:David began picking up roles in the late 1960s. He appeared in films like Casino Royale, the 1967 one, clockwork Orange 1971, where he played the bodyguard Julian, and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell in 1974.
Speaker 2:Oh, I've never seen that Gotta check that out.
Speaker 1:He played Frankenstein.
Speaker 2:Sweet Frankenstein's monster. You fucking nerd, that's right yeah. Frankenstein's monster. You nerd, you idiot. God, I can't believe you didn't know that, so dumb. There's very few things that I get snooty about, and I love that I got my 5% nerd comes out with horror. Actually, actually, yeah. He often joked about being. Actually, Jason Voorhees is a deadite. There is some speculation he's a deadite. Is that true? Well, there's speculation because maybe his mother got him back from the dead using the Necronomicon there are a couple of different coincidences there, but that's a whole nother story.
Speaker 2:Wow, what a fucking nerd yeah.
Speaker 1:Cool. Wow, what a fucking nerd. Yeah Cool, it's called being cool Kyle. His most beloved role in the UK was not monstrous at all. In the 1970s he became the Green Cross Code man, a superhero-like figure who taught children how to safely cross the street.
Speaker 2:No, no, no.
Speaker 1:Green Cross.
Speaker 2:Code man? I would rather have. What is it? Cinnamon Toast man? Yeah From Ren and Stimpy With his ass, cheeks flapping in the air. No way, that's not super.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he doesn't say super, it's just Green Cross Code man.
Speaker 2:He's supposed to be a superhero.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Superhero-like, I guess so. Alright, fine, good for him.
Speaker 1:We follow the rules.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's not what superheroes do they break the rules, that's true. Technically, they're all domestic terrorists. Yeah 9-11 is nothing compared to what they do in every Marvel movie.
Speaker 1:And you have to get to an emergency. You want the superhero who's waiting for the cross light.
Speaker 2:No, it's like when you watch people play GTA and they obey all the rules. By the way, gta 6, that new frickin' drop the trailer was amazing, but it's I want the game yeah.
Speaker 1:Looks pretty good. It does, but it's not coming out ever. Shh, I'm gonna kill you. His appearances in public safety commercials made him a national hero in Britain. Oh my god, the Brits Just come on. It earned him an MBE, which is a member of the Order of the British Empire, in 2000. Congrats.
Speaker 2:British Empire in 2000. Congrats. I would rather be on the Death Star, I'd rather be with Darth Vader.
Speaker 1:When it blows up.
Speaker 2:Exactly Favorite bumper sticker of all time. It was just two dudes talking, the stormtroopers being like I had some of my best friends on that Death Star.
Speaker 1:Even with that fame, something much bigger was about to enter his life, something galactic George Lucas. He was casting his ambitious space fantasy Star Wars.
Speaker 2:Like you don't know that we've been covering this the whole time.
Speaker 1:We know that, yeah, he needed someone physically intimidating to play the central villain, darth Vader. So was his voice all like hey everyone, how are you?
Speaker 2:What's going on? Everybody? Because that does happen. If you just heard Mike Tyson's voice and you have no idea who he is physically or what he can do, you'd be like I can kick his ass.
Speaker 1:I'm coming to kill you.
Speaker 2:And then he shows up and your ass is the one being pummeled.
Speaker 1:Lucas actually offered him two choices to play Darth Vader or the furry sidekick Chewbacca.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:But Prowse famously said everyone remembers the villain.
Speaker 2:They do.
Speaker 1:So Vader it was. I love that. He brought a terrifying physicality to the role. Every stride, every turn, every gesture under the black helmet, those were his. But Lucas ultimately decided in post-production to dub over his dialogue, replacing his West Country UK accent with the deep, resonant voice of James Earl Jones.
Speaker 2:Yeah, of course. Of course, If anyone thought that Darth Vader was going to be British.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Luke, you're my father. I don't even know what British people sound like I'm your pappy. Yeah, no, no, it's not happening. James Earl Jones greatest character work of all time. How much did he get paid for that, by the way? Because that's the VO of a lifetime right, there, of a lifetime right there, the first one, I believe it was very, very little.
Speaker 1:He's not even credited in the he's not Nope Uncredited, Wow, yeah, that's why David didn't even know that his dialogue was cut out until he went to the premiere.
Speaker 2:Oh my, you never know. That's why you cannot be cocky. If you're an actor. You got to wait until you see that damn thing.
Speaker 1:Yup. The decision caused a rift between him and Lucasfilm that never recovered.
Speaker 2:But it was the right choice.
Speaker 1:Absolutely the right choice. So you have to.
Speaker 2:It is what it is. Sometimes we've got to eat crow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so Prowse played Vader in all three original Star Wars films New Hope, empire Strikes Back, return of the Jedi. But in return, when Vader's mask is finally removed, he gets ousted again because it's the fat guy.
Speaker 2:What am I good for? Yeah, I do love that. He's like. I don't want to be chewbacca. No one's gonna see his face, yeah this was actor sebastian shaw. He was the body but not the voice so there's three people that played darth vader to bring. To bring this evil villain to life, it took a voice, a body and, I guess, the the movement of a man.
Speaker 1:Imagine that you see the script. You're like oh great, finally, you're going to take my mask off and you're going to see me for who I really am Right, they're finally going to— you bring your date. Yeah, exactly, wait for this. No, I swear to God, that's me, is that you? That's just some fat slob that's dying, no.
Speaker 2:I swear to God that was me. I can call George Lucas right now. I do this. Calls him and just gets to beep single Beams like ah, god damn, oh shit, That'd be, so embarrassing it really would be.
Speaker 1:Over the years he wasn't like Alec Guinness. He actually became a fixture at conventions and fan events.
Speaker 2:I mean, you probably go into those events Friday through Sunday. You're probably pulling in $100,000.
Speaker 1:Yeah, signing autographs, just being there.
Speaker 2:Well, no, actually I think you have to rent your own booth oftentimes, but you can make good money.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but you charge for a picture and an autograph.
Speaker 2:Exactly $25 or something like that. Yeah, people show up 5,000 people in line.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a whole bunch of money.
Speaker 1:They with people and you got to be up there on the list exactly so fans adored him, not just for vader, but also, like peter mayhew, his kindness, his stories and, uh, he had signature green lightsaber pens. Oh, that's cool, nice, it's a little quirk. I do like that. Behind the scenes, like I said, the relationship with lucasfilm grew even more strained. He was reportedly banned from official star wars events and premieres in 2010, allegedly for leaking plot details and creating tension on purpose to fuck the movies over Like the Phantom Menace, Like a villain.
Speaker 2:I do kind of like that. Yeah, you know I'm Luke. Just so you know, Anakin can't act.
Speaker 1:He always publicly denied wrongdoing, Like that wasn't me.
Speaker 2:It's probably all pretty petty at this point.
Speaker 1:And that's what they said is the biggest irony of his even life story and trying to screw over the movies he played one of the most iconic villains of all time, but was invisible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but now he must have gotten residuals, right. Oh, of course. He died rich, right? Yes, I hope everyone made money, because Lucas sold it for 4.5 billion, didn't he, yep? So hopefully everyone got their nut.
Speaker 1:And people were like, oh my God, that's you know multiple billions. That's insane. He would have made more. If he do, you got four billion dollars. Oh, I think he's fine. Don't cry, yeah, um. Beloved by fans, alienated by the studio, he was a symbol of strength who spent his later years battling illness he also inspired fantastic humor in the movie mall rats.
Speaker 2:Yes, I love that film. We just re-watched it. It's so unbelievably. I haven't seen it in a while, but yeah, that's great. Jedi mind trick dude, he gets that vhs tape put in his hand, hell yeah he still never expressed bitterness to the fans.
Speaker 1:He always spoke warmly about star wars and continue to sign autographs with the note david prouse is darth vader let the fans have it.
Speaker 2:They don't need to know what the sausage is made. There's a lot of emotions and things like that that go in entertainment. That, yeah, that's for the entertainers to know Exactly. Life is hard.
Speaker 1:So David passed away on November 28th 2020, after a short illness. He was 85.
Speaker 2:So we are talking some fairly long lives, except for Miss Fisher.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:She was the one who'd gone way, way too soon.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she was the one that was partying the hardest.
Speaker 2:Yeah, which is so ironic. I love that.
Speaker 1:Better to burn out than fade away.
Speaker 2:I guess. So Kurgan said that Kurgan. Kurgan said that the wrestler no, not the wrestler, the dude from that movie.
Speaker 1:I thought it was Neil Young.
Speaker 2:I think they both say it.
Speaker 1:Everyone says it yeah, a kind man. Mark Hamill called him a kind man and much more than Darth Vader. And then George Lucas said he made Vader leap off the page and onto the big screen. He really did. And then he made leaks on Reddit later.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, whatever Darth Vader on Reddit, that's exactly where he would go. Finally, a platform for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah exactly, he was laid to rest in London in a private ceremony. His family remembered him not as a villain, but as a loving husband, father and real-life hero.
Speaker 2:Oh, good for him yeah.
Speaker 1:So RIP David Mm-hmm. And lastly, we will talk about the other man who played Darth Vader, James Earl Jones.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is the voice. This is who I thought it was Verizon. Is he the voice of Verizon? Yeah, he was in the 90s. Good for him. He did everything. Get that money. Anyone who wants to cast any VOs, let me know. I'll do anything. I'll even do like the anti ASPCA, I'll be like kill dogs.
Speaker 1:Kill the dogs.
Speaker 2:I'll take 10% of that money and I'll send it to the ASPCA.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'll turn their heads around for you. I'll kill you dog, james Earl Jones, was born on January 17th 1931 in Arcabutla, mississippi.
Speaker 2:Arcabutla, arcabutla, arcabutla, come on down to Arcabutla. Sounds like a horny ant, just not allowed at the family festivals, butler's fucking here humping legs again.
Speaker 1:Uh, this was during the era of jim crow, ah, so not great. He was raised by his grandparents and that's the history books.
Speaker 2:According to kyle pluth, it wasn't good great. Jim crow, not great.
Speaker 1:Moving on, moving on, not great he was raised by his grandparents in michigan. He raised, uh, he faced significant challenges early in life. He actually had a severe stutter that led him to remain nearly mute for years. So that's kind of like yours.
Speaker 2:It's ironic, there's a lot of people that have stutters, that are very intelligent because technically the brain is working in a capacity that is above yes, and then it doesn't translate well to the mouth and a lot of times stutters are anxiety. There's a lot of famous people that had to overcome stutters. Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's not impossible to overcome. It's not. It was through poetry and literature that he found his voice, a journey that would eventually lead him to the University of Michigan Wolverines, where Tom Brady went. Oh, my God, I knew you were going to bring that trash up. He initially pursued medicine before discovering his passion for acting. I mean, that is a big jump. You're guaranteed to make some money in medicine.
Speaker 2:I mean, he would have been a great doctor. He's got the great voice. You have cancer. I'd be like dang yeah.
Speaker 1:I do. I feel better about it now.
Speaker 2:Tell me again, doc, it's terminal, fantastic, awesome, your voice is cool.
Speaker 1:After serving in the US Army during the Korean War, Jones pursued acting, studying at the American Theater Wing. His deep, resonant voice and commanding presence quickly set him apart.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's just brilliant, brilliant voice.
Speaker 1:That's a voice you hear in the hallway.
Speaker 2:You're like who the hell is that Exactly? You turn around, you pay attention to that voice.
Speaker 1:He made his Broadway debut in Sunrise at Campobello in 1957 and gained acclaim for his performances in Shakespearean productions including Othello and King Lear.
Speaker 2:Wow, those are the famous ones. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:Jones' portrayal of boxer Jack Jefferson in the Great White Hope earned him a Tony Award in 1969 and an Academy Award nomination when he reprised the role in the 1970 film Adaptation.
Speaker 2:Dang, so he was close to getting an EGOT. Yeah, for real.
Speaker 1:James Earl Jones' filmography is vast and varied. He brought gravitas to roles in Dr Strangelove, the man, claudine, field of Dreams, the Hunt for Red October. He was the voice of Mufasa. For Christ's sake.
Speaker 2:Yes, he was for crying out loud.
Speaker 1:It was his voice work that cemented his place in pop culture. Absolutely so. As the voice of Darth Vader, he delivered one of the most iconic performances of the decade. Decade despite never appearing on screen that is such a dream gig.
Speaker 2:That's so awesome. It's just like what you're in the studio.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we get this done in like three days. I'm out of here. Perfect. His portrayal of mufasa and disney's the lion king further showcased his ability to convey depth and emotion through voice alone. Absolutely, his voice just made it so much more sad when he died.
Speaker 2:Devastating.
Speaker 1:This guy who just sounds like an immovable mountain of a man, of a lion, right Nothing could happen to this guy. He's the fucking, he's the king.
Speaker 2:He is the king.
Speaker 1:And then Scar is a fucking.
Speaker 2:God all said Well, Scar's got some issues Scar. Major issues, I mean I understand why he probably gets railed by more chicks, though Scar's kind of cool, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Kind of a bad dude.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a good facial scar helps out a little bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's all about the proper scar, yeah.
Speaker 1:Throughout his career Jones achieved. Okay, so he did achieve the EGOT that you were talking about.
Speaker 2:He did yeah, Wow, I was gonna say I don't know if is that a Grammy category.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure, but Well, you're actually singing in Disney songs, so yeah, you're making the music. Wow, that's cool, yeah, so yeah, he won the Emmy, he won the Grammy, he got an honorary Oscar. Okay, so there's the no that counts, that counts.
Speaker 2:I'm sick of this bullshit. If you get an honorary Oscar, it counts, because they know that they fucked up. That's true, come on. That's why they had to give one to Sandra Bullock for the Blind Side, maybe the worst movie in cinematic history, yeah.
Speaker 1:And he got the Tony Award to finish out the EGOT. The only reason I don't like the honorary stuff is because you know when celebrities go and they do your commencement speeches at their school, they always get a honorary degree. It's like you know how much I just fucking paid for this shit and now you just show up.
Speaker 2:You're a moron. And now you get one. You're an idiot. Free, they get to talk to you. Yeah, they didn't go to college. You're a moron. Oh, I suck again. Yeah, you know, I think my english degree is gonna pay for itself when, uh, he was also.
Speaker 1:He was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1992 and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2002.
Speaker 2:Nice, all very well deserved.
Speaker 1:Yeah, on September 9, 2024, james Earl Jones passed away at his home in Pauling, new York, at the age of 93. Another long life, nice yeah. His death was confirmed by his agentry mcpherson, though no cause was cited at 90 93 is the cause like, yeah, he's dead he's dead yeah, so tributes again for him poured out around the world. Vice president kamala harris. She praised jones for using his voice to challenge america's thinking on civil rights and race. No, thank you, actor denzel washington, I'm not even gonna.
Speaker 1:No, no, well you know she put people in prison, okay, well, we all know actor denzel washington banking on civil rights and race.
Speaker 2:No, thank you, actor Denzel Washington, I'm not even going to.
Speaker 1:No, no, well, you know she put people in prison, okay, well, we all know, actor Denzel Washington referred to him as his hero, expressing admiration for Jones' influence on his own career.
Speaker 2:Nice, I love that.
Speaker 1:The Empire State Building I missed. This Empire State Building was lit up to resemble Darth Vader. In his honor and his alma mater, the University of Michigan released a tribute video narrated by Jones himself.
Speaker 2:I do USA all the way.
Speaker 1:Hell yeah.
Speaker 2:No, so literally we embraced it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:We are like yeah, darth was our leader.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and one of our most iconic buildings.
Speaker 2:Now, of course, Dick Cheney is the real-life Darth Vader. He's got a fake heart and shit. He's half machine. It's all coming together.
Speaker 1:James Earl Jones. You know his legacy remains as one about perseverance, talent and profound impact on social issues. He overcame personal challenges to become one of the most respected and beloved figures in the arts Absolutely. His voice, once hindered by a stutter, became a symbol of strength and authority.
Speaker 2:That's a good reminder. Yes, you can get through it, yep.
Speaker 1:He's survived by his son, Flynn Earl Jones, who continues his father's legacy in the arts. So that will lead us to.
Speaker 2:Final Thoughts the Star Wars universe, one of the greatest of all times, a great analogy of what happens when corrupt powers take over the world and the citizens have to stand up for their rights and blow up the enemy.
Speaker 1:That's right, and yeah, it lets you know that you're never too big to ruin your own franchise's films. There you go.
Speaker 2:Congratulations, George Lucas.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so RIP to everyone we spoke about today. Everyone is an absolute legend.
Speaker 2:Yes, and it was kind of nice. There was no major murder or anything else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this one's kind of a fun one, a little relief to the child murder and everything we've been talking about lately.
Speaker 2:Yeah, carrie Fisher, definitely the saddest Died way, way too young. But everyone else seemed to have a fairly long life, and even Carrie Fisher. She was famous. Till the end, I would almost argue she was at a precipice. She was the top of the mountain when she died.
Speaker 1:Right and, like you said, I wouldn't mind dying in first class. It's the worst places to die.
Speaker 2:Someone's going to sit by you or kind of by you, and then you start shitting yourself and stuff. It's kind of funny. I'm going to die in the bathroom. No, that'd be awful. No, on a plane.
Speaker 1:You'd rather be dead in the bathroom. Yeah, it's cozy. Last thing taking a shit in a plane.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's fine, it's fine.
Speaker 1:I'd be sipping a drink in first class. That's better. Yeah that's true, I'd be wearing it. That's embarrassing. That is All right, and that will bring us to You've Got Mail, let's go. Here we go. We've got some great Spotify comments from people.
Speaker 2:Yes, thank you so much for the kind words.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:It's very encouraging to read them.
Speaker 1:Yes, let's see here On the Adam Walsh tragedy, how a Father's Pain Changed America.
Speaker 2:Oh lordy.
Speaker 1:That was a very sad one. It was sad. It got a lot of people talking. Even Boom said Kyle's baby is so big. I'm convinced Ben's the mom.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I did birth. Don't tell Kaylina that the baby mama yeah.
Speaker 1:Because I birthed him. Fricka said this intro was everything, so thank you. And Goblin Bomber said this was a tough one. Good shit, boys.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and lastly, Vintage Chic by Babs said it's amazing and tragic what these parents went through and came out the other side as heroes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they saved a lot of lives. They really did.
Speaker 1:It wasn't until actually doing that episode that you really have to give it up for them, and they need to go down in the history books.
Speaker 2:As you know, changing everything to keep our kids safe. I have no idea how I would react. I'd be real pissed yeah you're really pissed and I don't know, especially because they weren't in entertainment before. The fact that they were like, well, let's pivot and save as many kids as we can is really amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly so thank you everybody all right.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for listening. We'll be back next week. Don't forget to support OK Bud. Also, if you want to check out our Patreon, patreoncom, slash diebud. And yeah, all right, everyone Hail yourself. And until next week don't go dying on us now.
Speaker 1:Bye-bye, bye you have just heard a true Hollywood murder mystery. I have never seen anything like this before. The movies, broadway, music, television all of it A place that manufactures nightmares.
Speaker 2:Okay, everybody. That's a wrap. Good night. Please drive home carefully and come back again soon.