Sad Star Wars News (Wednesday)

'Empire Strikes Back' Actor Sheard Dies

Aug 31, 8:47 AM EST
The Associated Press

LONDON -- Michael Sheard, who played Admiral Ozzel in "The Empire Strikes Back" and Adolf Hitler five times, including in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," has died, his agent said. He was 65. EDITOR'S NOTE: MY PERSPECTIVE HAS CHANGED A LOT ABOUT AGE OVER THE YEARS (AGING DOES THAT TO A LASS), BUT 65 SEEMS PRETTY YOUNG, HUH? (NOT TO MENTION, I THOUGHT HE WAS THAT OLD WHEN HE MADE ESB AND "LAST CRUSADE", SO I GUESS HE WAS ONE OF THOSE ALWAYS-AN-OLDER-CHARACTER-ACTOR GUYS).

Sheard died on Wednesday at his home on the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of England, agent Liz Hobbs said. He had been suffering from cancer.

Sheard appeared in more than 40 feature films, working with actors including Lawrence Olivier, David Niven, Roger Moore and Sean Connery.

He is best known in Britain for his role as Maurice Bronson, the teacher who terrorized his pupils in the long-running teenage soap, "Grange Hill."

Sheard is survived by his wife, Ros, and three children. Funeral details were not immediately available. EDITOR'S NOTE: I KNOW ALL OF US SEND DWEEBISH WARM WISHES TO MR.SHEARD'S FAMILY IN THIS SAD TIME......