25 Star Wars Actors Who Are No Longer With Us

11. Phil Brown

Phil Brown, whose acting career went all the way back to the 1930s, played Uncle Owen in the original Star Wars. A veteran of screen and stage, he appeared in many productions and also directed. That was until the 1950s, when he was blacklisted from Hollywood during the "red scare" thanks in part to interference by Ronald Regan and J. Edgar Hoover. Although never a member of the Communist Party, he had been part of the Actor's Laboratory, which became a target of communist hunters. The false accusations led to Brown relocating with his family to England. Brown was cast as Owen as George Lucas was looking for an actor with a "strong American accent." He would also appear in Superman and Chaplin in his later years, and returned to the U.S. in the 1990s, where he became a popular figure at conventions. After a long illness, Brown died in his sleep February 9th, 2006.