William Hootkins

William Hootkins
Hootkins in 2002
Born	William Michael Hootkins (1948-07-05)July 5, 1948 Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Died	October 23, 2005(2005-10-23) (aged 57) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Burial place	Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery, North Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Other names	Bill Hootkins
Alma mater	Princeton University London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1973–2005
Spouses	Polly Hootkins ​ (m. 1973⁠–⁠2005)​ Carolyn Robb ​ (m. 2005)​

William Michael Hootkins (July 5, 1948 – October 23, 2005) was an American actor and voice actor, long based in the United Kingdom.^[1] He was known to film audiences for his supporting roles in several blockbusters of the 1970's and 1980's, notably as Jek Porkins / Red Six in the original Star Wars (1977), Major Eaton in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and Lt. Max Eckhardt in Batman (1989).^[1] He also worked on the West End stage, originating the role of Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock Blonde.

Hootkins was born on July 5, 1948, in Dallas, Texas. He attended St. Mark's School of Texas from grade 1 through 12. At age 15, Hootkins found himself caught up in the FBI's investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy when he was interviewed about Ruth Paine, his Russian teacher. Marina Oswald, the Russian wife of the assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, and their children had been living with Paine in Irving. In school he also developed his taste for theatre, joining the same drama group as Tommy Lee Jones, who was a year ahead of him in high school. Hootkins would later say that, since Jones was better-looking and got all the best parts, "I supported from then on in."^[2]

Hootkins attended Princeton University, studying astrophysics before transferring to oriental studies, where he became fluent in Mandarin Chinese. He was a mainstay of the Theatre Intime, making a particular impact with his performance in Orson Welles' Moby Dick—Rehearsed. On the recommendation of his friend John Lithgow, he moved to London in the early 1970s and trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He made his home in London until 2002, when he moved to Los Angeles.^[2]

Hootkins appeared in significant parts in films such as Hardware (1990), Like Father, Like Santa (as Santa Claus), and Hear My Song (1991), where he was the Mr. X who was presumed to be the Irish tenor Josef Locke under a false name.^[3] He portrayed Fatty Arbuckle in Ken Russell's infamous 1977 flop Valentino, and played Hans Zarkov's assistant in the 1980 Flash Gordon. He also made appearances in such films as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Tim Burton's Batman (the latter as Lt. Eckhardt).^[2]

He also appeared in several roles on television, including Charles Frohman in The Lost Boys (1978), Colonel Cobb in the remake of The Tomorrow People and as Uncle George in the 2002 remake of The Magnificent Ambersons. His last film role was as reporter Frank Rich in the 2005 dramedy Colour Me Kubrick.

Although American, he was a close look-alike to portray the young Winston Churchill through to his premiership in six episodes of the 1981 BBC Cymru Wales biographical series The Life and Times of David Lloyd George. He delivered Churchill's closing eulogy of his friend before parliament to end the series.

At the time of his death, Hootkins was planning a screenplay on Fatty Arbuckle, focusing on the comic's life after his fall from grace in 1921; he had met Arbuckle's last wife, Addie McPhail.^[2]

Hootkins appeared in many roles that made him a welcome figure at fan conventions, particularly for Star Wars in his role of Jek Porkins, the first X-wing Starfighter pilot to be shot down and destroyed. Hootkins has said that he was not sure if his character was human when he was first cast for the role. He is quoted as follows: "I saw the word 'Porkins: I thought because I'm a heavy guy, what's this word Porkins? I saw all the amazing creature effects they were doing and I thought wait a minute, if they are giving me a name like Porkins, is somebody going to come over and stick ears and a snout on my face?" The actor also recalled that while filming his death scene, the special effects supervisor imparted: "Just before we blow you up, I want you to understand what is going to happen. It's nothing to worry about; we are going to put some gun powder under your seat, a couple of magnesium squibs here, a 4-stick dynamite charge over here." Hootkins recalled feeling slightly nervous upon seeing the number of fire extinguishers present on set, and told the crew he would simply leave the premises in the event of the stunt not going as planned.^[4]

Porkins' death scene has been referred to as one of the more gruesome moments in Star Wars.^[5] Hootkins would later reflect on the impact of his minor role in the film: "I didn’t realise what power would come from that job until a year later I received my first fan letter. In it was a drawing of my scene by a little boy, and it was actually a clearer and more understandable version of the scene than George Lucas'! He asked if he could have an autographed photo. When I checked the return address, it was the leukaemia ward of a children’s hospital. It’s a blessing to me that I have any power to make even the tiniest difference in other people’s lives."^[6]

Hootkins was also a voice artist, recording dozens of plays for BBC Radio Drama where his roles ranged from J. Edgar Hoover^[7] and Orson Welles^[8] to Winston Churchill. In audio books, he read works by Jack London, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Robert Bloch and Carl Hiaasen. He also performed an award-winning, unabridged reading of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick for Naxos Audiobooks that runs for 24 hours and 50 minutes.^[9] He voiced Dingodile in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, Maximillian Roivas in the cult hit Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, and Lucifer in the stop-motion film The Miracle Maker. He played Bobby Mallory in BBC Radio 4's dramatisations of Sara Paretsky's V. I. Warshawski novels, alongside Kathleen Turner. He also voiced Lex Luthor in Radio 4's The Adventures of Superman.

In England, Hootkins found work in the theatre as well as in film, and he would have his greatest success on stage portraying Alfred Hitchcock in Terry Johnson's 2003 hit play Hitchcock Blonde, first at the Royal Court Theatre and in London's West End. The role was such a success that producers planned to take the show to Broadway, but it was canceled after Hootkins was diagnosed with cancer.^[2]

Hootkins also starred in the original production of Johnson's Insignificance at the Royal Court Theatre.^[10] He played Uncle Pleasent in Nicholas Hytner's West End production of Orpheus Descending, opposite Dame Helen Mirren.^[1][11]

Hootkins died of pancreatic cancer in Santa Monica, California on October 23, 2005, at the age of 57. His mausoleum is at Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery.^[12]

• William Hootkins at IMDb
• William Hootkins at Find a Grave
• In Loving Memory Of William Hootkins