Mark Hamill Mourns the Loss of 'Deeply Gifted and Beloved' Star Wars Actor Andrew Jack
Mark Hamill is mourning the death of fellow Star Wars actor Andrew Jack, who died on Tuesday from complications of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
“I’m so sorry and saddened to hear we have lost Andrew Jack,” Hamill, 68, shared on Twitter Thursday. “He was such a kind gentleman who was deeply gifted & beloved by all who knew him. My deepest condolences to his family.”
Jack appeared in three Star Wars films and was the dialect coach for The Lord of The Rings films. In addition to playing Resistance Major Caluan Ematt in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jack also voiced the character of Moloch in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
The actor died at 76 on Tuesday at a hospital outside of London as a result of complications he’d developed from COVID-19, his rep Jill McCullough said in a statement to Evening Standard.
His wife, Gabrielle Rogers, was unable to be with Jack when he died because she is currently under quarantine in Australia, McCullough told the outlet.
I'm so sorry and saddened to hear we have lost Andrew Jack. He was such a kind gentleman who was deeply gifted & beloved by all who knew him. My deepest condolences to his family. 💔 #RIPAndrew https://t.co/rwL9N1uHEk
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) April 2, 2020
“Andrew lived on one the oldest working houseboats on the Thames, he was fiercely independent but madly in love with his wife; also a dialect coach: Gabrielle Rogers,” McCullough’s statement said. “Tragically she is stuck in quarantine in Australia having just flown in from NZ last week. She was unable to see or talk to him at the end of his life and there is a chance a funeral may not be held.”
“Andrew was full of life — he was tall and striking with flowing white hair,” he added. “You wouldn’t miss him if he walked into a room.”
“We lost a man today. Andrew Jack was diagnosed with Coronavirus 2 days ago. He was in no pain, and he slipped away peacefully knowing that his family were all ‘with’ him,” Rogers later wrote on Twitter.
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Fellow Star Wars actor Greg Grunberg also shared his grief at Jack’s passing.
“Devastated to hear of the passing of the wonderful, talented, beloved gentleman #AndrewJack,” Grunberg wrote on Twitter Tuesday. “He is one of the kindest people I’ve ever worked with. Please stay safe. Please stay home!!! #RIPAndrewJack.”
Jack was most recently set to be the dialect coach for the upcoming movie The Batman starring Robert Pattinson, of which production is currently on hold because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Lucansfilm Andrew Jack
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Jack’s dialect coaching credits include several Marvel movies — Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The First Avenger, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame among them —and he worked closely with both Robert Downey Jr. and Pierce Brosnan on various films.
As of Thursday, the U.K. has at least 33,718 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 2,921 deaths related to the contagious respiratory virus. Globally, there are now more than 981,000 confirmed cases and more than 50,000 deaths related to the illness.
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