Angus MacInnes, known for his role as Gold Leader Jon “Dutch” Vander in “Star Wars: A New Hope,” died on December 23 at the age of 77. MacInnes’ family posted about the actor’s passing on Facebook, informing his fans of their tragic loss. While a cause of death was not given, MacInnes was praised for his extensive career in entertainment and his undeniable impact on the industry.
“To all Angus’ fans around the world, with breaking hearts we write this: Angus MacInnes, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, friend, and actor died on 23rd of December 2024,” the message began. “His work touched countless lives, and he took great pride in being part of these stories that continue to resonate with audiences worldwide.”
His family continued, “For Angus, the fans of Star Wars held a special place in his heart. He loved meeting you at conventions, hearing your stories, and sharing in your passion for the saga. He was continually humbled, delighted, and honoured by the admiration and passion of the fans and convention community. Angus was more than an actor—he was a kind, thoughtful, and generous soul who brought warmth and humor into the lives of everyone who knew him. He will be deeply missed by his family, friends and fellow actors but also by his fans around the world – his family thank you all.”
MacInnes emphasized how much he enjoyed working with George Lucas in “Star Wars.” He said, “I got into the cockpit to do this scene and George [Lucas] said, ‘Have you learnt your lines out of sequence?’ and I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ and he said, ‘Just your lines,’ and I said, ‘No… I’ve learnt my lines with the cues,’ you know, somebody cues me and I talk,” MacInnes told The Telegraph in a 2014 interview. “He said, ‘No, just do your lines.’ And so we started shooting and it was just a nightmare.”
The actor further joked, “I mean, it turned into a s***storm because I couldn’t remember anything without the cues. I needed that other voice to respond to, so I kept drying. I knew the lines perfectly well, I just couldn’t remember them,” he said. “I thought, ‘What am I going to do here?’ and I started sweating, so I needed a make-up artist there with a mop. I mean, I was sweating buckets.”
“I was in a flat panic and [George] came and said, ‘Well, can you read them?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do that.’ I was so panicked at that point that I would have done anything. If he’d said, ‘You need some heroin,’ I would have rolled my sleeve up,” MacInnes continued. “So, I had a piece of script on this leg, a piece of script on this leg and I had a chunk of script above me and a chunk of script over here. So, we shot the whole thing and I read the stuff off [them]. There’s no performance – in that sense – at all. It’s just reading lines and I thought, ‘I don’t care. I’ve just got to get out of here.’”
Featured image credit: Angus MacInnes / Facebook
"*" indicates required fields