I’ll start this on sort of a random note. I’ve always been a fan of Jek Porkins. Who doesn’t love a chubby star pilot?
Anyhow, from the ‘I can’t believe I didn’t know this’ file comes today’s entry. If you know me even a little but you know that I’m a HUGE Star Wars fan. You probably also know that, like most guys my age, I’m also a huge fan of the Indiana Jones films. While it’s no longer the case, when I was growing up these two franchises were trilogies. And boy were they awesome. The glue holding these two amazing sagas together was naturally Harrison Ford who plays Han Solo in Star Wars and Henry ‘Indiana’ Jones in the Raiders films. But as Yoda taught us… There is another.
William Hootkins played badass Rebel pilot Jek Tono Porkins in Star Wars and via some creative editing Rogue One. OK… maybe ‘badass is a bit of a stretch but like I said, I’ve always been a fan. I think this goes back to my days of wearing ‘husky’ pants.
Anyhow… In doing some Googling on Mr. Hootkins I discovered that was also in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Funnily enough he’s playing a character named Major Eaton. Get it? Porkins. Eaton. Chubby guy? Forget it.
WOW. So he’s another actor that spans the gap between the two trilogies. There are a couple of other folks too.
- Julian Glover played General Veers in The Empire Strikes Back and Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Michael Sheard played Admiral Ozzel in The Empire Strikes Back and Adolf Hitler in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
But here’s where Hootkins stands above them all. He was ALSO Lieutenant Eckhardt in Tim Burton’s Batman ’89!
Star Wars, Raiders and Batman? Good God man. Talk about childhood memories.
And just for good measure, let’s throw in the Superman franchise. What? Yep, Hootkins played nuclear strategist Harry Howler in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Not a great entry into the franchise by any stretch of the imagination but it counts.
And now you know… and as we all have heard, knowing is half the battle.
