Egbert Sen


Egbert Sushil Kumar Sen (c. 19322019) was a Pakistani actor who played Willrow Hood in the 1980 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. The character has since attracted a cult following by Star Wars fans, inspiring "The Running of the Hoods" cosplaying event at Star Wars Celebration conventions from the 2010s onward.

Biography


Egbert Sen emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1957, finding employment as a musician performing Indian music for the BBC in England, and contributed to the score of the 1965 Beatles film Help!. He was contacted by an agent recruiting non-white actors, and, living in south London, he commuted to Elstree Studios for work in film and television productions such as The Saint in the 1960s. For The Empire Strikes Back, Sen's daughters Dolly and Paula also appeared among a group of children running with their teacher in a scene set in Cloud City as Lando Calrissian leads the rebels through the corridors. The scene was filmed between April 512, 1979, on stage 2 at Elstree.

"The Running of the Hoods," inspired by Egbert Sen's character, Willrow Hood

"The Running of the Hoods," inspired by Egbert Sen's character, Willrow Hood

Sen's scenes as Willrow Hood were also set in the corridors of Cloud City, running amidst the evacuation of the city holding a camtono. He later found work also as a supporting cast member in films throughout the 1980s, including Steven Spielberg's Lucasfilm productions Raiders of the Lost Ark of 1981 and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom of 1984, acclaimed British films such as My Beautiful Laundrette of 1985, as well as the James Bond and Superman film franchises. Although Sen spoke of his film career, he made no mention of his Star Wars work in a Channel 4 documentary or in an interview with The Guardian that were both published in 2011, and passed away while resident at the Aashna House care home in south London in 2019. His daughters Dolly and Paula discovered his following as Willrow Hood in 2023, when they were approached by a Star Wars fan named Nicolas Delage investigating the identity of Hood's actor, and they were proud of their late father for the following; the sisters said that the phenomenon was the recognition that he had always wanted.

Appearances