Hey Hootkins! Think About The Future No More...

Hey guys, it's Donnie...Occaisionally a major Hollywood figure passes away and everyone gets very sad and upset and the movie sites get flooded with long flowery RIPs. Sometimes it's someone who was never really a major player, but maybe they had that one iconic role that stood out, i.e. the voice of The Jolly Green Giant recently died, which is worth mentioning I suppose but it's hardly as if the entertainment industry will go into mourning.

William Hootkins just died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 58. Most of you probably read that and say, "William Hootkins? Who's that?" Well that name may not sound familiar, but let me throw some other names at you: Porkins, the doomed X-Wing pilot from the first Star Wars. Eckhardt, the dirty cop from Burton's Batman. Major Eaton, the "bureauocratic fool" from Raiders of the Lost Ark who sends Indy on his mission and then insists that The Ark is being examined by "top minds."

Yeah. That guy.

For some reason, I had never put the pieces together and realized that all three of those characters, characters that absolutely stand out in my childhood cinematic education, were the same actor. I don't know why I never made that realization, it was so plainly obvious. Perhaps I just never watched any of those movie in close enough proximity to each other for him to stand out. Either way, the guy was a fantastic character actor and I for one will miss him dearly. He can soon be seen in the upcoming films Dear Wendy (written by Lars von Trier) and Color Me Kubrick, in which Malkovich Malkovich plays a man who impersonated one of the greatest filmmakers of all time despite looking nothing like him.

Best wishes to William's friends and family.