Veteran actor Phil Brown, best known to Star Wars fans as Luke Skywalker's Uncle Owen Lars from A New Hope, died yesterday after a lengthy illness. The 1977 role of Owen Lars introduced Brown to a whole new audience of young film fans, though it was only a small part in comparison to his lengthy acting history.
Brown was a member of the famous Group Theater in New York in 1938, shortly after his graduation from Stanford University. After appearances on the Broadway stage, Brown and other members of the Group moved to Hollywood in the 1940s. Brown appeared in supporting roles in a variety of films, and served as a board member and producer for the Actor's Laboratory, a renowned stage theatre in Hollywood.
His career as a director was cut short after only one film, The Harlem Globetrotters, when the anti-communist McCarthyism hysteria took a hold of Hollywood. Though never a member of the Communist Party, Brown was nonetheless blacklisted in 1952 and could not find work in America. He instead went to London, where he continued his work as an actor and director, on stage, television and feature films.
In recent years, Brown had made a number of convention and event appearances celebrating his role as Owen Lars, where he had the opportunity to meet many Star Wars fans in person. He is survived by his wife Ginny, who was also well known to fans since she accompanied her husband to most fan conventions.
