He's no good to me dead.

January 2, 2016 8:36 AM

Jason Wingreen died at the age of 95 on Christmas Day, 2015. A character actor best known for his role of Harry the bartender on All in the Family until his iconic roll as the one true voice of Boba Fett made him famous to Star Wars fans everywhere in 1980.

In addition to serving in 81st Fighter Squadron, 50th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force during WWII, Wingreen was one of the founders of the famed Circle in the Square theater company in New York's Greenwich Village.

posted by entropicamericana (16 comments total)

Just this week I re-watched the MST3k episode "San Francisco International", which when I first saw it years ago drove me crazy as to where I had seen that one Senator at the beginning. Only later did I discover it was Wingreen and I was remembering him from "Archie Bunker's Place" when I watched it as a kid with my folks many years ago.

And, whoa, the Boba Fett thing really hit me from left field when I read the obit yesterday. The fact that Lucas replaced his voice later pisses me off to no end.

So long, Mr. Wingreen. You will be missed.

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posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 9:06 AM on January 2, 2016

Here's (what's labeled as) a clip of the original Boba Fett voice.

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posted by LobsterMitten at 9:09 AM on January 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

Thanks, Lobster. That was supposed to be the link under "the one true voice of Boba Fett." Can a mod please help fix that? You're our only hope.
posted by entropicamericana at 9:24 AM on January 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

And this is a link a the wikipedia entry on Circle in the Square, which was supposed to be in there. Never post before your second cup of coffee, kids.
posted by entropicamericana at 9:25 AM on January 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

Sure, edited that link.
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:29 AM on January 2, 2016

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posted by vibrotronica at 9:50 AM on January 2, 2016

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posted by Splunge at 10:20 AM on January 2, 2016

to anyone who's been inspired to re-watch the original trilogy after seeing the fantastic new movie, you owe it to yourself to download Harmy's Despecialized Edition, available (and very well-seeded) on all the most popular torrent sites. As far as I can tell, it remains the only way to come close to watching the original trilogy as first seen in theaters.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:21 AM on January 2, 2016 [9 favorites]

also:

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posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:22 AM on January 2, 2016

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He was the archetype of the stern, wisecracking, but ultimately shoulder-to-cry-on bartender.
posted by blucevalo at 10:30 AM on January 2, 2016

Why did he do the voice of Boba Fett? Seems random as hell.
posted by Liquidwolf at 3:39 PM on January 2, 2016

He originally auditioned for the voice of Yoda.
posted by entropicamericana at 4:47 PM on January 2, 2016

I hope he chose carbonite freezing, disintegration or digestion over a traditional burial or cremation.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 5:26 PM on January 2, 2016

Here's (what's labeled as) a clip of the original Boba Fett voice.

OBSERRVATION: IT WOULD APPEAR JASON WINTERGREEN'S VOICE INTONATIONS AS THE AFOREMENTIONED BOBA FETT HAVE SERVED AS THE INSPIRATION FOR THE USE OF THAT MEATBAG KRISTOFFER TABORI IN CHARACTERIZING THE ROLE OF HK-47 IN THE VIDEOGAME "KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC", AMONG OTHER TITLES.

SUPPLIMENTAL: .
posted by Smart Dalek at 5:40 PM on January 2, 2016

Having Temuera Morrison redo the voice of Boba Fett was so unnecessary. I'm guessing Lucas felt he had to have the same accent as Jango, which makes no sense.

And even though there will only three or four lines, the character is changed completely. Wingreen really helped sell the icy "Man with No Name" nature of the character, but Morrison's direction (or lack of) kinda turns him into a wimp. "As you wish" to Vader went from dry to subservient. "What if he doesn't survive?" went from annoyed to fretful.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 6:10 PM on January 2, 2016 [4 favorites]

In honor of his role in Star Wars: {Wilhelm scream}
posted by caution live frogs at 7:49 AM on January 3, 2016 [1 favorite]