That Guy - Star Wars, Flash Gordon, Superman 4.......

 

"In a sense, my career's been downhill ever since.  Fans still come to greet me at the stage door with action figures of my character and embarrassing photographs for me to sign."

William Hootkins is not exactly a household name.  When I visited his grave in Dallas a few years back, I knew him as Porkins, one of the many rebel pilots who did not survive the original Star Wars. 

I was in the cemetery paying my respects to some more notable internments, when I saw his listing on Find a Grave, and thought, what the heck.  It turns out this guy has been in a ton of my favorite movies and I never made the connection.  But first, a little back story.

He was born in Dallas on July 5, 1948.  He attended private school, where he first became interested in acting.  Upon graduation, he enrolled in Princeton University, where he initially majored in astrophysics before transferring to oriental studies, all the while participating in the school's theatrical productions. Upon graduation, he followed his friend John Lithgow's advice and moved to England, where he studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. 

It was there in 1976 that he was cast as Porkins, a small role that would ultimately define his career.  He'd continue working in England for the next twenty years, appearing in some of the biggest films of the day.  In 1980, he appeared as Munson, lab assistant to the eccentric Dr. Hanz Zarkov in Dino De Laurentis's Flash Gordon.  The following year, he appeared as Major Eaton in Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark.  In 1987, he appeared in the critically panned Superman 4: The Quest for Peace, playing Harry Howler, an American arms tycoon.  Finally, in 1989, he played the corrupt Lieutenant Eckhardt in Tim Burton's Batman.

Hootkins in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Superman 4: The Quest for Peace, and Batman.

By 2005, Hootkins had relocated to California, where he was being treated for pancreatic cancer.  He ultimately died on October 23rd.  He was just 57 years old.

William Hootkins was laid to rest at Sparkman/Hillcrest Memorial Park in Dallas.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• As a teenager, Hootkins was in the same drama group as future box office star Tommy Lee Jones, whom he was felt was far more handsome than himself.  He once famously stated "I supported from then on."
  
  
• When he was just 15 years old, Hootkins was interviewed by the FBI following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  His teacher at the time, Ruth Paine, was a Russian national and friend to Oswald's wife Marina.  It was later discovered that unbeknownst to the family, Oswald had stored his rifle in Paine's garage, the same one he'd later use to kill the president.
  
  
• Other notable Sparkman internments include Mickey Mantle, Ross Perot, Tom Landry and Mary Kay Ash.
  
  
• When Lieutenant Eckhardt goes to kill Jack Napier at Axis Chemicals in the first few minutes of Batman, Hootkins appears with a scruffy beard.  Moments later, when Napier shoots him, he appears completely clean shaven.