Larry A. Ward was an actor and linguist who developed the Huttese language alongside Ben Burtt on Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. He also provided the voice of both Greedo (in A New Hope) and Jabba the Hutt (in Return of the Jedi).
Biography[]
By c. 1976 Larry Ward was graduate of linguistics from UC Berkeley and was familiar with eleven different languages.[1]
Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt had decided to use the sounds of Quechua for the filmed dialogue with Greedo; having failed to find a speaker of Quechua, he discovered Ward, whose linguistic background allowed him to analyse sound samples, transcribe them, and familiarize himself with its sounds; thus he was able to repeat or read Quechua comfortably like a fluent speaker.[1]
In their sessions together, they chose their favorite sounds and invented their own "words" and sounds based on the exotic musicality and "clicks" of Quechua, which they recorded. Burtt wrote out "fake Quechua" phrases based on Greedo's snout movements on the scene, and timed with them.[1]
Sources[]
Much to Learn You Still Have: 9 Things You Might Not Know About Rodians on StarWars.com (backup link)
Jedi at 40 | Ben Burtt and Randy Thom on Crafting Ewokese, Jabba's Voice, and the Rancor's Roar on StarWars.com (backup link)- Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide
- The Strange and Familiar Sounds of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew on StarWars.com (backup link)
