Declan Mulholland

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

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Declan Mulholland (December, 1932–June 29, 1999) was a Belfast-born actor who played Jabba the Hutt in scenes cut from the 1977 release of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.

Biography[]

Declan Mulholland was born on December, 1932 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.^[1] He played Jabba the Hutt in scenes cut from the 1977 release of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.

In Mulholland's scenes as Jabba, Jabba is represented as a rotund Human dressed in a shaggy fur coat. George Lucas has stated his intention was to use an alien creature for Jabba, but the special effects technology of the time was not up to the task of replacing Mulholland. In 1997, the Special Edition re-releases restored and altered the original scene to include a computer-generated portrayal of Jabba.

DeclanMulholland as Jabba — A scene from 1977 recycled for use in the 1997 release of *A New Hope* by inserting a CGI Jabba over Mulholland

Pablo Hidalgo used Mulholland's appearance as the basis for Opun Mcgrrrr in his short story "Spare Parts."^[2] Later, a member of the Son-tuul Pride syndicate was based on Mulholland.^[3]

Although his most famous role was left on the cutting-room floor, Mulholland had a long and varied career as an actor, amassing over fifty credits in movies and on British television between 1962 and 1997.

Mulholland appeared alongside Star Wars actors Jack Purvis and Kenny Baker in the movie Time Bandits. In this movie, his costume is almost exactly the same as the costume he wore as "Jabba."