Australian actor Peter Sumner, who portrayed Death Star security officer Lt. Pol Treidum in the original 1977 “Star Wars” film, died after battling a long illness, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. He was 74.
Sumner was best known for his scene in “A New Hope” when he notices two stormtroopers (Han Solo and Luke Skywalker) out of their assigned stations and says, “TK-421, why aren’t you at your post? TK-421, do you copy?” Later, he’s seen being taken out by Chewbacca.
According to the Herald, the actor was traveling in England with his family when “Star Wars” was being cast. He earned £60 a day for two days’ work on the film and forever cherished the experience. He was a regular at fan conventions and replied to fan letters over the years. He later reprised his role of Treidum in the 1999 “Star Wars” fan film “The Dark Redemption.”
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The actor was also a writer, director and documentary maker, who also worked on “Play School,” was in Mick Jagger’s “Ned Kelly,” “The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith,” the TV series “Spyforce” and was Bill Hayden in “The Dismissal.”
“He did many Shakespearean plays on stage. He toured a lot with David Williamson plays. He did so many shows on the ABC with Jacki Weaver and Cornelia Frances and other people,” his wife, Lynda Stoner told the publication. “He did a lot of comedies. He did a lot of dramas. In the seventies, he was barely off the ABC doing one show or another.”
He is survived by his wife Lynda and their three children Luke, Kate and Joanna.
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