- "Well, Treat Williams decided he was going to come and hang out on the set, which he did, and he appeared in those ice planet scenes as one of the lieutenants or officers in the Rebel Forces. And I'm sure that there is no credit for him at all and he didn't have a character or anything, but he just said, 'Hey, this looks like a lotta fun and I'd kinda like to be a part of it, mind if I take a role of an extra?' Everybody said, 'Yeah!' So here you have this Hollywood star who just decided, for probably no salary, just to hang out for a few scenes and was quite happy with the role of an extra in Empire Strikes Back. And that was kinda the way it was."
- ―John Morton
Richard Treat Williams (December 1, 1951 – June 12, 2023)[1] was an American screen actor. He was nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards, one Emmy Award, and three Golden Globe Awards.
Biography[]
Treat Williams and Carrie Fisher pose for photographs on the Echo Base set.
Treat Williams visited the exclusive set at England's Elstree Studios during the 1979 filming of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back,[4] to visit actress Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia Organa), according to the now-defunct StarWars.com Hyperspace feature "Photoreceptor."[5] According to actor John Morton (Dak Ralter), Williams, who was in London at the time, decided that it would be fun to appear in the film as an extra, and did so with the blessing of the film's production staff.[3] Donning the tan fatigues of a Rebel soldier,[4] Williams appears in the film at some point during the interior Echo Base scenes on Hoth, according to Morton.[3] During his stay on the set, Williams befriended actor Harrison Ford (Han Solo)[4] and posed for photographs with Fisher.[6] Williams was uncredited for his role in the film.[source?]
Very few official Lucasfilm products have addressed the matter of Williams' presence on The Empire Strikes Back set, and none have definitively stated that the actor actually appeared in the film. To date, only the now-defunct StarWars.com Hyperspace feature "Photoreceptor" (2004) and the 2010 behind-the-scenes book The Making of The Empire Strikes Back, written by author Jonathan W. Rinzler, have officially released black-and-white photographs of Williams, dressed as a Rebel soldier, posing with Carrie Fisher on the Echo Base set, with accompanying captions confirming Williams' identity.[5][6]
Williams died on June 12, 2023, at the age of 71, from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.[2]
Sources[]
Photoreceptor: "In For a Treat" on Hyperspace (article) (content removed from StarWars.com and unavailable)- The Making of The Empire Strikes Back
- Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga – The Official Collector's Edition
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Treat Williams, Star of ‘Everwood’ and ‘Prince of the City,’ Dies at 71 by Mike Barnes on The Hollywood Reporter (archived from the original on June 13, 2023)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Treat Williams, Actor Known for Film Version of ‘Hair,’ Dies at 71 by Jesus Jiménez; Mike Ives on The New York Times (archived from the original on June 13, 2023)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Interviews | Cellblock 1138 | John Morton on TheForce.net (archived from the original on December 12, 2004)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Duke, Brad. "Devil of a Time". Harrison Ford: The Films. McFarland & Company, Inc., 2005. ISBN 978-0786440481.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1
Photoreceptor: "In For a Treat" on Hyperspace (article) (content removed from StarWars.com and unavailable)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Making of The Empire Strikes Back
