April 3: Colin’s birthday and more historic Star Wars events
“This will be a day long remembered,” Darth Vader says in the first Star Wars movie. Yes, the context in which it’s said is ominous — Obi-Wan Kenobi has died by Vader’s hand and the Death Star is on its way to threaten the Rebel Alliance base on Yavin IV — but go along for the ride here as we remember April 3rd in Star Wars history.
It’s the day Colin Cantwell was born in 1932, in San Francisco to parents James and Fanny. That year was an interesting time in the history of the United States: World War I was in the rearview mirror, but the country was in the grip of the Great Depression and World War II was about to rear its ugly head. Fanny would spend part of the war working a job embodied by the famous “Rosie the Riverter” posters.
Other historic Star Wars events on April 3
What else has happened on April 3rd in Star Wars history? Here’s the list of historic events as far as we know them. (We’re leaving out minor events like publishing dates of books.) Leave a comment below if you have any to add.
April 3, 1969: Actor Ben Mendelsohn was born in Australia. He rose to prominence in his native country in the 1987 film The Year My Voice Broke and earned international acclaim for his role in the 2010 movie Animal Kingdom. He is, of course, well-known to Star Wars fans for the role of Imperial Director Orson Krennic, which he played with scenery-chewing aplomb in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and four episodes of the second season of the Disney+ series Andor.
April 3, 1972: Author Paul S. Kemp was born. He has written several Star Wars novels and stories since 2010.
April 2-3, 1975: Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie finished his “Rebel Spacebase” painting, which prominently features Colin Cantwell’s Y-Wing, as realized by him in a physical model. At the time, Colin was building physical models and Ralph was incorporating them into his paintings.
“Rebel Spacebase”
Ralph McQuarrie’s pre-production painting that uses Colin’s Y-Wing model.
Colin’s Y-Wing
April 3, 1976: Filming of the iconic Mos Eisley cantina scene concluded in Ajim, a ferry port on the island of Djerba in the African country of Tunisia, where the outdoor scenes of Tatooine were filmed. Officially, the cantina is called Chalmun’s Spaceport Cantina — Chalmun is actually a Wookiee who’s distantly related to Chewbacca. You didn’t see him in the background during that scene because he spent most of his time in a back office.
April 3, 1978: The first Star Wars movie won 8 of the 12 Oscars it was nominated for: a Scientific and Engineering Award for its special effects; a Special Achievement award for Ben Burtt and his sound work; Best Visual Effects; Best Sound; Best Original Score; Best Film Editing; Best Costume Design; and Best Art Direction. It lost, however, in the four major categories where it was nominated: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Alec Guinness), and Original Screenplay.
April 3, 1989: Actor James McArdle was born. He played the human Resistance pilot Niv Lek in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and Ferrix resident Timm Karlo during the first season of Andor.
April 3, 2013: Disney shutters LucasArts, the videogame company that had been part of Lucasfilm since 1982. Nearly 150 staff members lost their jobs in the Vader-like move, with approximately 10 people left to handle the licensing of Star Wars videogames to third parties; their business unit was renamed Lucasfilm Games in 2021. The in-development titles Star Wars 1313, First Assault and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed III were all shelved as a result.
April 3, 2016: Erik Bauersfeld, who provided the voices of Admiral Ackbar and Bib Fortuna in Return of the Jedi and voiced the former in a videogame and in The Force Awakens, dies.