Howie Weed

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

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Harold "Howie" Weed (born December 23, 1962) is an Industrial Light & Magic artist and occasional actor in the Star Wars saga. He played multiple background characters (Ketwol, Melas) and the Wampa ice creature for the 1997 Special Editions.

Biography[]

In 1997, Harold Weed began working on the Special Editions of the Star Wars original trilogy. Weed was the chief creature maker for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi Special Editions, creating the new monsters for both these films.

Much like Rick Baker before him, Weed acted as some of his creations. Particularly, on A New Hope, he can be seen in the cantina as Ketwol, as well as Melas. The same puppet was used for both characters. During The Empire Strikes Back, Weed was chosen to be inside his own Wampa Ice Creature costume to film new scenes. Because this role no longer required a tall actor, Des Webb was not re-called. Thus, the "gory Wampa" in the Special Edition is mainly played by Weed.

Weed continued working for the Star Wars saga with Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, working as a construction artist and digital model development artist for ILM.