Angus MacInnes

Angus MacInnes, sometimes called Angus McInnes or McInnis, was the actor who played Gold Leader in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

Angus MacInness was born in Windsor, Ontario (Canada), to Scottish parents, on October 27, 1947. He has lived and worked in the US, Canada and the UK.

He studied acting during his college years, then did post graduate work in Great Britain at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, during the late 1960s and first 1970s. He has done theatre work, including West End Productions.

His first role in a movie was in Norman Jewison's sci-fi flick Rollerball (1975), where he played one of the guards escorting star Jonathan E. (James Caan). Coincidentially, the captain of the guards was none other than Burnell Tucker, who played different Rebel officers in both A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. As MacInnes' role was little more than human background, he would not be recognised with an on-screen credit (neither was Tucker).

Angus MacInnes later would work as a guest star for at least one episode of TV series Wodehouse Playhouse, adaption of P.G. Wodehouse's comic short stories, particularly episode The Nodder (1976), playing one of the four characters known as "Yes Man".

In 1977, MacInnes appeared in another TV series, returning to sci-fi genre. He played Jelto for an episode of Space: 1999, particularly Devil's Planet, working with star Martin Landau.

It was in 1977 where he acted in popular movie Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. His role was one of the fighter pilots, the leader of the Gold Squadron. He was briefly named "Dutch" (as in Netherlandic) in popular line "We've lost Tiree and Dutch", but expanded universe later gave him a full name, Jon "Dutch" Vander, plus a past (Vander is a native of Wayland, for instance).

MacInnes would not return to the Star Wars saga for further installments of the series, as his character died in the Battle of Yavin.

However, he would coincide with some of the stars of the series, including Harrison Ford, for his following movie: Guy Hamilton's Force 10 from Navarone (1978). His role as First Lieutenant Doug Reynolds was discreet, as it would became a norm in him.

In march and october 1980, MacInnes appeared in two episodes of TV series The Littlest Hobo, playing different characters, and playing a henchman in one of them. Continuing with a run of unnamed characters, he also played the second military policeman in George Bloomfield's comedy Nothing Personal (1980), starring Donald Sutherland, and a guy only called "Vinnie" in Louis Malle's Atlantic City (1980).

He would meet with some Star Wars stars, including Bob Anderson, for Richard Lester's Superman II. In this movie, unnamed warden MacInnes would be fooled by intelligent Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman), who manages to escape from his prison and eventually ally with Kryptonian General Zod (Terence Stamp). At the end of the movie, however, Luthor ends again in jail.

MacInnes continued with his abundant but discreet career in 1981, with Alvin Rakoff's comedy Dirty Trick, where he played FBI agent Jones (secondary to main FBI agent Wicklow, played by Michael Kirby), and then returned to sci-fi for Peter Hyams' Outland, starring Sean Connery and Peter Boyle. This movie also featured some actors from the Star Wars saga such as Harry Fielder, who played a Death Star trooper in the same movie that MacInnes played Gold Leader. Other Star Wars actors in this movie, including John Ratzenberger, did not coincide MacInnes in his only Star Wars appearance.

In 1982, MacInnes acted in no leass than four movies, although again in small roles. Perhaps the most remembered of these was Michael Anderson's thriller Murder by Phone, starring Richard Chamberlain, but it was again the less significative MacInnes role of the year, as a laboratory guard. He also appeared in another horror flick, Roger Christian's The Sender, playing a sheriff.

Finally, MacInnes appeared in two 1982 dramas: John Trent's Best Revenge and Eric Till's If You Could See What I Hear, playing a policeman who stops the car of the main characters (Look for his lines: "Your friend is blind? Then why the hell is he driving?").

In 1983, MacInnes played his first role in a TV movie: Another policeman, this time in Fielder Cook's Will There Really Be a Morning?. He also returned to horror for William Fruet's low-budget Spasms, with Peter Fonda and Oliver Reed, in what would be one of his greater roles. Another one of these would be Rick Moranis' and Dave Thomas' comedy The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew, starring both directors in the title roles.

Comfortable with TV movies, MacInnes returned to that medium in 1984 for historic drama Louisiana, and he also made a short for Stephen H. Foreman, 28-minute Cougar. He had time to return to mystery movies with William Fruet's Bedroom Eyes, again in a small role.

MacInnes continued his career by acting small roles for both TV and cinema. In 1985, he played a doctor for Sandor Stern's biopic John and Yoko: A Love Story and he also appeared in miniseries Evergreen. Probably we remember him better for his role in Peter Weir's ''Witness', next to Harrison Ford: He played Fergie, one of the detectives.

Accessing to better-distributed movies, he spent 1986 acting next to Sigourney Weaver and Michael Caine in Half Moon Street and in one of the main roles for TV movie Screwball Academy (which was shown in cinemas in some countries).

He returned to guest roles for TV series in 1987 for The New Statesman, but then played an important role in both Yugoslavian co-production Honor Bound (1988) and German co-production The Rescue (1988). Comedic adventure by Antony Thomas Spies Inc. (1988) was not a great way to show his talents, but he also had a great chance playing a police detective for sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II (Tony Randel, 1988), with some great make-up effects.

MacInnes closed the 1980s with a guest apparance for a TV series, Howards' Way, and two small roles in TV thrillers, Fellow Traveller and Tailspin: Behind the Korean Airliner Tragedy. He also had a chance to play the dean in dramatic movie Gross Anatomy, starring Matthew Modine and Daphne Zúñiga.

He then began the 1990s with a role in a gangster movie, Peter Medak's The Krays. Although not a titular character, his role, Palendri, allowed him some interesting performance as a hillbilly crook.

Even after a promising star for the decade, MacInnes then had trouble finding roles in cinema, and restricted his role to TV for the first half of the 1990s. He appeared in British comedy for TV Sleepers (1991) and as a guest star in episodes for series Lovejoy, Between the lines (both in 1993) and Paris (in 1994).

He had to wait until 1995 to have another chance in cinema with Danny Cannon's Judge Dredd, starring Sylvester Stallone. He played one of the judges, Judge Silver, who was almost irrecognizable by comic-book fans.

It was in 1995 when MacInnes began working for Sky TV series Space Island One, which would air in 1998 and where he would play Lieutenant Commander Walter B. Shannon.

Meanwhile, he acted small roles in TV movie Over Here (1996) and mini series McLibel! (1997), a documentary about McDonald's franchise. In 1997, he also gave voice to one of the characters of popular board game Cluedo in its video game version (to be precise, Mr. Boddy, or Dr. Black depending on your country; anyhow, MacInnes was the victim). Then, Space Island One would begin, but it only lasted two seasons.

In 1999, MacInnes had a chance to act in a Stanley Kubrick movie, Eyes Wide Shut. He can be recognised as the first gateman in the party.

In 2000, MacInnes returned to his prolific career acting in all the genres: A guest appearance in a TV series (Too Much Sun), a TV movie Yesterday's Children and a mainstream movie Rhythm & Blues, always in small roles.

In 2001, he acted in no less than three movies, each better than the previous one. He began with a professor role for Mark Roper's Operation Delta Force 4: Deep Fault (again, next to Burnell Tucker), and then with Ronny Yu's The 51st State, starring Samuel L. Jackson). He ended the year with Michael Apted's acclaimed Enigma, playing an unforgetable Commander Hammerbeck who had some problems understanding the machine.

He then played a considerable role as Tittman in Costa-Gavras' also acclaimed Amen. (2002).

For 2003, he restricted his appearance to non-cinema movies. He acted in a TV movie, Soraya, and in docudrama "Seven Wonders of the Industrial World (2003), where he played Governor Goethals of the Panama Canal Zone.

An then, he returned to cinema with renewed strenghts. He began with Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy (2004). He would greatly play sergeant Whitman, who appears in the first scene of the movie with a young Trevor Bruttenholm, when he finds Rasputin and the Hellboy.

And then he met Keira Knightley for John Maybury's The Jacket (2005), athriller where MacInnes played the judge. He also gave his voice for radio drama Golden Slipper.

At some moment, MacInnes had owned and ran a pizza restaurant named Mamma's in Edinburgh. It is clear that he is not doing it now, but the exact dates of this curricula is unclear.

Currently, MacInnes is still active and he has two movies in post-productions, to be released in the current year 2006. One of these is for TV, Living the Quake, but the other one is a Brian De Palma thriller, The Black Dahlia, starring Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Hilary Swank and Rose McGowan.