Like many here, I’ve always been curious as to who exactly portrayed the 6 Imperial Dignitaries in ROTJ. The recent revelations that Anthony “Tony” Lang portrayed Sim Aloo: http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=25327 …convinced me the rest could be identified. A quick search led to this thread: http://forum.rebelscum.com/t1083992/#post18881746 …where it indicated that Of those besides the confirmed Anthony Lang as Sim Aloo (formerly misidentified as BoShek on Wookiepedia and still incorrectly pictured- they really need to fix that), nothing came up for any of the others except for one: I can confirm that one Francis Batsoni is likely the un-named “tall-hatted advisor”: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Unidentified_tall-hatted_Imperial_advisor Batsoni is listed as one of the Dignitaries on some fan sites, and interestingly enough as one of the Cantina patrons in ANH. Could both be the case? The answer is yes, he is in both! Batsoni is both the tall-hatted advisor from ROTJ is also the unidentified cantina patron in front of the Tonnika Sisters in the Cantina scene! Compare the following images of him as a Dignitary (the second is from the making of ROTJ book, which unfortunately had no mention of the actors portraying the dignitaries): … to this guy: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Unidentified_moisture_farmer …and this other image of Batsoni: Take a good look at those pics, because it did happen! The tall-hatted Advisor in ROTJ was portrayed by Francis Batsoni, who was also a cantina patron in ANH!
Wookiepedia is a horrendous source when it comes to actors. Many of their sites they use as sources contain erroneous information, hence how Anthony Lang was misidentified as Bo-Shek. I believe that started from a cast sheet, which said Lang was supposed to be present on the Cantina set. He hasn't been positively identified yet (it's likely that he's not even there). I don't have the site, but someone has also identified him as an extra present during the Rebel briefing scene. There was a great amount of talent involved in populating the Star Wars universe. Sadly, only a fraction of these actors have been identified for their efforts. Even sadder, as in this case, some actors are deceased and unable to provide accurate, and are the target of false information. Now, I wonder who this John fellow is...
Yep, it is a shame that incorrect info has spread while correct information has been denied even when it should be blindingly obvious, particularly with Lang. Not so much Batsoni, who has no page yet, but definitely Lang. I saw your postings on the talk sections of Wookiepedia, thank you for raising the issue. This is the highest resolution, clearest image I've ever seen of Lang (click for a big version): Something like that should replace the image of BoShek that is still on the page for Lang, but probably won't without some edit war.I hope adding a page for Francis Batsoni will be less complicated... As for the actors who portrayed the rest of the Dignitaries, would it be possible to send this to Leland Chee or somebody official so as to get confirmation once and for all? Their names have got to be on some documentation somewhere...
Yeah, I had just changed that image to Sim Aloo. Not great, but better than the image of BoShek. I sent Leland Chee a message, though we'll see if that has any effect. There have been stories of unknown actors being discovered; Pablo Hidalgo researched the cast sheets, and revealed the identity of Wedge's first actor as Colin Higgins.
Francis Batsoni was born in 1912 and died in April 2001. Anthony Lang died in 1992, but I can't find a source saying when he was born. He's been in things since the 1940s, but not as a major character. Lang wasn't in anything after RITJ, and neither was Batsoni.
Fun fact about Anthony Lang is he played an equally silent, yet creepy, councilor to an equally deformed, chair-bound galactic genocidal maniac who shoots lightning from his hands. He is on the advisory council of Davros, creator of the Daleks in the famous classic Doctor Who story "Genesis of the Daleks". He even stands there, leering, as his lightning-fingered master is plotting the complete destruction of the rebellion against his regime.
