CT How old was Obi-Wan supposed to be?

I mean I know we had Sir Alec play him and then we went to a fairly still young looking Ewan McGregor at the end of the prequels, do we know how old the character was supposed to be?

 

The novelization of TPM put him as 25 during TPM - with it being established eventually that TPM was 32 years before ANH.

 

He was 38 in ROTS, and ANH was 19 years later, so 57. That said, that is his age as established by the PT. I'd wager that, at the time of the OT, Obi-Wan was meant to be a bit older. Probably about 10 years older.

 

Obi-wan was twenty-five in TPM, thirty-five in AOTC, thirty-eight in ROTS and fifty-eight in ANH. Guinness was sixty-two when he made ANH.

 

ANH ended up being 19 years after ROTS, not 20 as was initially stressed in the novelizations (by references to Luke's age, at least).

 

Is it possible he aged differently considering how he was on Tatooine and we don't know how long a year is on that planet. We are applying Earth Years not Tatooine Years.

 

It's unclear exactly how old he was supposed to be during the OT days. But he was by no doubt meant to be pretty older than he is now supposed to be.

Lucas mentioned a few time (interviews and publicity) during OT production that he was basically in his 70's. So we can loosely infer 75...

It is also cohesive with many dialogues from Star Wars/ANH emphasizing the character is really old ( "old Ben", "I'm getting too old for this sort of things", "Your powers are weak old man", "Surely he must be dead by now - Don't underestimate the Force").

However, indeed Alec Guiness was 62 when the movie was made...But, to me, it has maybe something to do with the fact that Ben/OBW was supposed to look younger and stronger, through the Force, than the average 75 year old man.

So Sir Alec fitted the role.

 

Are you discounting the prequels on purpose?

If Kenobi was 75 in ANH, that would mean he would have been 55 when Anakin turned to the Dark Side, 53 during the Clone Wars and 43 during the Naboo blockade.

I'm not buying this for an instant.

 

Of course not but it causes a de facto continuity error. No way the Obi-Wan we see at the conclusion of Sith will look like the one we see in Star Wars, we're about 75% of the way there and Ewan still looks 20-30 years away from Sir Alec despite either actors actual age.
Once McGregor was cast it was a no go on the time frame of starting him at 25.

 

Ewan hasn't spend 20 years in a desert climate though. Harsh climates age people's skin prematurely.

 

Totally disagree. 25 (TPM) ---> 35 (AOTC) ---> 38 (ROTS) ---> 57 (ANH), when the actor was 62 and the character has been living in a desert with two suns and harsh sandstorms for 19 years is perfectly reasonable and consistent.

 

Imagine living in Afghanistan for a couple years after the World has been taken over by an evil Empire. You would grow a beard and be considerable weather beaten.

 

Well, you buy what you wanna buy...

I'm not discounting anything here

The FACT is that Lucas mentioned during the OT making, and had it in its notes, that the character was supposed to be in his seventies.

You seem to forget that the whole time frame for the saga was of course not yet in place in 1977. The prequels like they happened to be devised and made didn't even exist at that time...

And If the definitive chronology established by the prequels was already set in stone during the OT, why would have Lucas cast a 77 years old actor (Sebastian Shaw) to play Anakin Skywalker, a character now supposed to be roughly 45 in ROTJ ?....It doesn't make sense.

 

Obi-Wan was meant to be in his seventies in the OT... but Alec Guinness was much younger -and he doesn't look older than 65 to me. However, the script does portray him as an old man.

Just one quick note, though: the prequels don't establish a definitive chronology. That's part of the "canon" outside the movies. Just watching the movies, there is a "long gap" (generational gap) between the PT and the OT. It could be 19 years or it could be 22 years.

 

Ord-Mantell70 wrote

And If the definitive chronology established by the prequels was already set in stone during the OT, why would have Lucas cast a 77 years old actor (Sebastian Shaw) to play Anakin Skywalker, a character now supposed to be roughly 45 in ROTJ ?....It doesn't make sense.

I guess we are looking just at another possible premise change by George Lucas regarding the PT (wouldn't be the first).

In the case of Sebastian Shaw playing Anakin Skywalker, I'd think that his dark side Force abuse made him age more rapidly than it would be usually the case. After all, according to ANH, Vader's dialogue suggested Ben Kenobi to be older ("Your powers are weak, old man").

 

Yes, in insisting that we discount the chronology given in the prequels you're -- surprise! -- discounting the prequels. A simple 'yes' would suffice to answer the question.

There is no 'FACT' -- either in all caps, or spelled normally -- that Obi-Wan was in his seventies after Sir Alec Guiness, who was 62, was cast.

I'm aware of the writing and development of the prequels. The answer I've given takes all 6 films into consideration. If you're discounting the prequels, that's your prerogative, but there's no point in pretending your're not discounting the prequels because, see, you are.

Shaw was cast to wear heavy make-up as a burned Anakin and as a semi-transparent ghost Anakin. Unless you're suggesting that Lucas cast Kenobi's pupil as older than Kenobi on purpose?

 

So, I'm the Great Pretender...

When I say that I'm not discounting the prequels, it means that I'm fully aware of the new chronology established by them.

We're in the Classic Trilogy Forum, and the thread is about how old the character of OBW was supposed to be IN THE OT, so it's plain obvious that the 6 movies aren't to be taken into account here...


Yes, and re-yes, there is fact and proof that the character was decided to be in his seventies by Lucas, even after A.Guiness was cast :

- Annotated Screenplays (L.Bouzereau), where it is mentioned that Lucas decided when writing ROTJ that the character would be in his 70's.

- The Guide to the Star Wars Universe (Second Edition)

- Star Wars 3rd draft describes Ben Kenobi as in his 70's

If all this is not fact to you, then I wonder what will be...

 

Thanks for the lesson, Ord-Mantell70. Since I'm currently without my copy of TAS, would you mind typing out the exact passage which reveals that " Lucas decided when writing ROTJ that the character would be in his 70's"? Thanks ahead of time.

The other two sources are arguable, since one is a guidebook -- not the screenplay or film -- and the other is a draft, not the shooting script.

 

He's 57 as many of us know. His manner in the film, as well as statements by Lucas and other writers, seems to imply that he was at least in his late sixties.

 

Sorry, I don't have it with me either.

 

Your environment, grief, diet, stress and many other things can prematurely age someone. Tarkin's comment about Obi-Wan being dead could have been a reference to his character, not standing for what the Empire had done/was doing so after almost twenty years of hearing nothing from him the guy must be dead. Vader calling him am old man feels more like a taunt or a twisted endearment. As for telling Luke he was getting too old for this sort of thing isn't a lie but at the same time he's trying to get Luke to join him.