The Secret Star Wars Role Harry Shearer Didn't Want You To Know
A long time ago, in a galaxy far-diddly-ar away...
From the likes of Daniel Craig, Tom Hardy and Sofia Coppola to N*Sync and even Prince's William and Harry, the Star Wars cameo has become a much sought after trophy in the world of celebrity. And, whilst it has become more of a well-known trait of the latter movies, that's not to say that it's phenomenon reserved solely for the prequel and closing trilogies.
Thanks to an interaction with a fan on twitter, it came to light not so long ago that none other than The Simpsons' Harry Shearer provided the voice for one of the Imperial officers in the very first Star Wars film, A New Hope.
The character in question turned out to be Edmos Khurgee, a captain in the Galactic Empire, whose brief appearance is limited to coordinating the search of The Millennium Falcon once it was captured. Hardly a big role but so familiar is Shearer's voice that it was the subject of much speculation for years, and the actor remained conspicuously guarded on the subject for years.
Whilst nowadays Shearer is one of the most recognisable voices on television, thanks in most part to his nearly three decades tenure on Matt Groening's iconic series, back in 1977 he was still two years off from his Saturday Night Live debut, and at the time was most well known for his regional radio-comedy work alongside his future Spinal Tap alum Michael McKean.
Consequently, this was seen as more of just a simple over-dubbing job, than a real cameo opportunity for the man behind Kent Brockman, Ned Flanders and many more.
Still, you'd be hard pressed to think of any voice more suited to crushing the rebel alliance than diabolical tones of Mr C. Montgomery Burns.