John Wayne's Secret Role in 'Star Wars'

Have You Heard About This?

By Culture SlatePublished 3 years ago • 3 min read

It is no secret that the films and television shows centering on the galaxy far, far away are chock full of Easter eggs and secret cameos for fans to try and find. It seems celebrities all over the world will do almost anything just to say they have been in Star Wars with many begging and pleading with George Lucas. There is one legendary actor who, one could say, started it all. It was "The Duke" himself, John Wayne. However, it was not exactly a cameo in the traditional sense as he did not appear on screen.

Throughout the film series we have had cameo roles from the likes of Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, and even a planned cameo by the band NSYNC in the prequel trilogy (although this was not included in the end). We have also recently found out, via his own Twitter page, that veteran Star Wars actor Mark Hamill had also provided the voice of various different characters throughout the saga. It turns out John Wayne did it first.

During the events of A New Hope, Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi traveled to the Mos Eisley spaceport in search of a ship and pilot who could take them to Alderaan in order to fulfill Princess Leia's wish of delivering the stolen Death Star plans to her father. On a side note Old Ben's "Myself, the boy, two droids, and no questions asked" is easily one of my favorite quotes from the entire series, but I digress. As we know, they found Han Solo and Chewbacca and made their plans. However, they were interrupted by the untimely arrival of the Empire's stormtroopers, determined to stop the group from escaping. The reason the Empire knew of their whereabouts was because of a certain Imperial spy lurking within the space sport. The spy in question was a male Kubaz named Garindan ezz Zavor, who looked like some sort of robotic anteater. Although he spoke in an alien language, this character was actually voiced by the late John Wayne via a stock footage which was processed greatly.

Despite the character's brief appearance, like many side characters, he would go on to receive an in-depth backstory via other forms of media. For those interested in finding out more about him, there is a whole page on Wookieepedia dedicated to him and it is definitely worth a look as there are quite a few details about just how Garindan ended up exactly where he needed to be instead of just being another random plot device.

Aside from comics and book, the character would also go on to appear in the LEGO Star Wars videogame series, first in LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, then again in LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga with the recycled voice-work from A New Hope. John Wayne essentially also got to voice him in a games. It is also worth mentioning, Wayne's voice being used for Garindan ezz Zavor would actually be his final credit before his sad passing from stomach cancer in 1979.

Little pieces of information like this is exactly why Star Wars is so loved by many fans. Even after over forty years, we still keep finding out new and interesting information from throughout the entire franchise. This is also part of the reason why the galaxy far, far away has endured for so long. So, next time you watch the first film (chronologically), you will know one of the most famous actors to ever live is right there on the journey with you.

Did you know this fact? Be sure to let us know.

Until next time!

Written By Jordan McGlinchey

Source: Wookieepedia

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