Phil Brown ('Uncle Owen' from 'Star Wars') dead
02-14-06, 08:23 AM
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Phil Brown ('Uncle Owen' from 'Star Wars') dead
http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movi....ap/index.html
'Uncle Owen' from 'Star Wars' dead
Phil Brown was 89
Tuesday, February 14, 2006; Posted: 8:30 a.m. EST (13:30 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Phil Brown, an actor who played Luke Skywalker's loving but doomed Uncle Owen in "Star Wars," died Thursday of pneumonia. He was 89.
Brown died at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, said his wife, Ginny.
He worked in stage and film for more than 60 years, many of them spent in England, but many remember him as Luke's loving uncle in George Lucas' 1977 blockbuster.
His character tries to give Luke a normal childhood on a farm and keep him from knowing his Jedi roots. Imperial storm troopers later kill Uncle Owen and his wife, Beru.
He got the role when Lucas, filming scenes for "Star Wars" on a London sound stage, needed an actor with a strong American accent. Brown then spent a month or so in Tunisia filming a handful of scenes.
In the 1950s, Brown was blacklisted during the communist scare in the United States. A longtime progressive, Brown always denied being a communist.
Moving to London, he found work on stage and in such films as "Tropic of Cancer" (1970) and "Twilight's Last Gleaming" (1977).
Phil Brown was 89
Tuesday, February 14, 2006; Posted: 8:30 a.m. EST (13:30 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Phil Brown, an actor who played Luke Skywalker's loving but doomed Uncle Owen in "Star Wars," died Thursday of pneumonia. He was 89.
Brown died at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, said his wife, Ginny.
He worked in stage and film for more than 60 years, many of them spent in England, but many remember him as Luke's loving uncle in George Lucas' 1977 blockbuster.
His character tries to give Luke a normal childhood on a farm and keep him from knowing his Jedi roots. Imperial storm troopers later kill Uncle Owen and his wife, Beru.
He got the role when Lucas, filming scenes for "Star Wars" on a London sound stage, needed an actor with a strong American accent. Brown then spent a month or so in Tunisia filming a handful of scenes.
In the 1950s, Brown was blacklisted during the communist scare in the United States. A longtime progressive, Brown always denied being a communist.
Moving to London, he found work on stage and in such films as "Tropic of Cancer" (1970) and "Twilight's Last Gleaming" (1977).
02-14-06, 01:48 PM
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It bothers me when younger Star Wars fans say the acting in the PT was just as bad in the OT, when you see a guy like this on screen for 10-15 minutes in the original Star Wars, and it is a truly believable performance that isn't forced.
Peter Cushing, Alec Guiness, and Phil Brown, all RIP, you guys proved what great acting there was in the original SW.
Peter Cushing, Alec Guiness, and Phil Brown, all RIP, you guys proved what great acting there was in the original SW.
02-14-06, 05:03 PM
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Interesting...I guess I've seen him in one or two other flicks but don't remember him in them (plus it's been a long time since I've seen them: Superman and Pink Panther Strikes Again), but I sure do remember him well in Star Wars: A New Hope. I guess in some way he made the film feel a bit more....real?...down to Earth? Perhaps just because he never handled space weaponry (lightsaber, blaster etc.), but I sure do remember his scenes. I'll have to check out some of his other work (at LEAST the ones I'd seen before). Also glad to see he died at a "ripe old age" so to say.
I also notice that Shelagh Fraser/Aunt Beru died in 2000, and that they were both in the tv show "The Professionals" (but on different episodes).
And now, for the tasteless comment: I wonder if he'll be cremated?
"Uncle Owen? Aunt Beru?!?" I was going to post an image of the stormtrooper attack aftermath, but felt a negative vibe about doing so. I'm sure someone else will do it.
(Stupid friggin' morals...)
I also notice that Shelagh Fraser/Aunt Beru died in 2000, and that they were both in the tv show "The Professionals" (but on different episodes).
And now, for the tasteless comment: I wonder if he'll be cremated?
"Uncle Owen? Aunt Beru?!?" I was going to post an image of the stormtrooper attack aftermath, but felt a negative vibe about doing so. I'm sure someone else will do it.
(Stupid friggin' morals...)
02-14-06, 11:47 PM
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Before George went off and mucked up the story with prequels, his talk with Luke/Beru and also Obi-Wan's talk with Luke at the beginning of ANH really were the two scenes that inspired the most mystery in the Star Wars universe.
Plus his freaky skeleton was probably the scariest thing in all of the movies.
Plus his freaky skeleton was probably the scariest thing in all of the movies.
02-15-06, 02:13 AM
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En vacance
He was the only one that grounded reality to Star Wars. He felt like he was the most humanistic person of them all connecting with us.. He was just a father figure looking out for Luke and his well-being just like we all experienced. Rest in peace.
