Peter Cushing

Peter Wilton Cushing was born in Kenley, a district in the English county of Surrey, on May 26, 1913. He was widely known for roles in numerous horror films made by the British Hammer Studios throughout the 1950s to the 1970s. His most prominent role was that of the villainous Baron Victor Frankenstein in The Curse of Frankenstein and its sequels. Cushing appeared alongside Christopher Lee in almost twenty-five films, and the two became very close friends. Although not a particular fan of science fiction, Cushing starred in several films of the genre throughout his career, including two films in the 1960s based on the popular British television series Doctor Who. He also portrayed the role of Sherlock Holmes in a 1965 television series. Cushing's wife, Helen Beck, died in 1971, causing Cushing to work in at least twenty films in the following five years as a way of dealing with his grief. He would cycle to his wife's grave every day.

In early 1976, film director and writer George Lucas approached Cushing with the hopes of casting the actor in his upcoming space fantasy film, Star Wars. Since the film's primary antagonist, Darth Vader, played by David Prowse, wore a mask throughout the entire film and his face was never visible, Lucas felt a strong human villain character was necessary. This led Lucas to expand the character of Grand Moff Tarkin, a high-ranking Imperial governor and commander of the planet-destroying battlestation named the Death Star. Lucas felt a talented actor was needed to play the role and was inspired to select Cushing by a photograph of him and Lee at the Hammer Film studios headquarters, which were in the same building as Lucas's office. It was later speculated that Lucas cast Cushing due to his resemblance to actor Charles Middleton, the actor who portrayed the villainous Emperor Ming in the Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s that had inspired Lucas in creating Star Wars.

Lucas stated Peter Cushing was his first choice for the part of Tarkin. However, Cushing later claimed that Lucas originally approached him to play the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and only decided to cast him as Tarkin instead after the two met each other. Cushing said he would have preferred to play Kenobi rather than Tarkin, but he could not have done so because he was working on another film when Star Wars was shooting, and Tarkin's scenes took less time to film than those of the larger Kenobi role, which Alec Guinness filled. Cushing compared the film to Doctor Who and accepted the part as his criteria for selecting roles was based on what he believed his audience, particularly children, would enjoy seeing. Cushing was in his 60s at the time of filming, and as such was flattered to learn that he was still desired as an actor.

Along with Guinness, Cushing was among the most famous actors at the time to appear in Star Wars, as the rest of the cast was still relatively unknown. As a result, Cushing was paid a larger daily salary than most of his fellow cast, earning £2,000 British pound sterling—approximately $3,656 in American dollars at the time—per day compared to weekly salaries of $1,000 for Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), $850 for Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa) and $750 for Harrison Ford (Han Solo).

During rehearsals, Lucas originally planned for Tarkin and Vader to use a giant screen filled with computerized architectural representations of hallways to monitor the whereabouts of the film's protagonists, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa. Although the idea was abandoned before filming began, Cushing and Prowse rehearsed those scenes in a set built by computer animation artist Larry Cuba. Like Guinness, Cushing had difficulty with some of the technical jargon in his dialogue, and claimed he did not understand all of the words he was speaking. Nevertheless, he worked hard to master the lines so they would sound natural and that his character would appear intelligent and confident. In interpreting the villainous role, Cushing relied on Lucas's input and his own instincts as an actor.

Cushing was uncomfortable in his character's uniform, telling Lucas that he felt he resembled a chaffeur. He was provided with a pair of boots far too small to accommodate the actor's size twelve feet. This caused a great deal of pain for him during shooting sessions, but the costume designers did not have enough time to get him another pair. As a result, he asked Lucas to film more close-up shots of him from the waist up, to which the director agreed. Cushing wore the only available footwear, a pair of women's slippers, during the scenes where his feet were not visible. When Cushing smoked between shots, he wore a white glove so the make-up artists would not have to deal with nicotine stains on his fingers.

Cushing joined the rest of the cast in May 1976, with his scenes recorded in Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, England, over two weeks. On April 29, May 3, and May 4, Cushing filmed the scene of the destruction of Alderaan with Fisher set in the Death Star control room, which served as her first major dialogue in the film. Cushing consciously attempted to define their characters as opposite representations of good and evil, and the actor purposely stood in the shadows so the light would shine on Fisher's face. He mentored Fisher, who was in her first major film role, providing advice and explanations on what to avoid in filmmaking. According to Richard LeParmentier, who played General Motti, Fisher would often attempt to get a rise out of Cushing through humor, contributing to the positive shooting environment.

To portray the hatred Organa's character had for Tarkin, Fisher tried to imagine Cushing as a different person, as she was so fond of him that she found that emotion difficult to perform. Although one of Fisher's lines refers to Tarkin's "foul stench," she said the actual actor smelled like "linen and lavender," something Cushing attributed to his tendency to wash and brush his teeth thoroughly before filming because of his self-consciousness about bad breath. Upon learning of that line, Cushing asked Lucas, "Do you want me to look as if I have body odor?"

During filming of the scene of a boardroom meeting between Imperial officers on May 3, the other actors, including Don Henderson as Cassio Tagge, found it difficult to focus on Cushing's villainous performance due to the slippers he was wearing. The actors had to stifle their laughter while looking Cushing in the eyes, which caused Cushing some concern as he was unsure what he was doing wrong. When the scene was completed, the other actors told Cushing about the difficulty they had experienced, causing him to roar with laughter. Cushing found it challenging to work with the significant level of special effects in the film, feeling it somewhat undermined the level of effort actors put into learning their lines.

Cushing enjoyed collaborating with Prowse again, as they had worked together in the 1974 film Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, where Prowse had played Frankenstein's monster. Cushing commented that Prowse's costume was much more intimidating than his monster costume, which he said was merely a "bald cap and a diaper." In contrast to his character's cruel nature, Cushing was highly esteemed by his coworkers, remembered as a "sweetheart" by Fisher and as an old-fashioned, charming but humorous gentleman by Henderson. He liked the environment on set in turn, admiring the professionalism of his younger co-stars and appreciating Lucas's respectful demeanor, which he had not anticipated from a young filmmaker.

Mark Hamill was disappointed when he realized he had no scenes with Cushing, being a fan of his, so he visited the set on a day off to meet him and ask for an autograph. Hamill asked questions about Cushing's past acting career, specifically what it was like working with the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy in the 1940 film A Chump at Oxford. Cushing was surprised that he had even heard of the film. Lucas found Cushing highly pleasant to work with, leading the director to continue using British actors who could play larger-than-life villains in his films.

According to Rick McCallum, producer of the special editions of the original Star Wars trilogy, every scene that Cushing filmed was included in the final film. Additionally, the close-up shots of Cushing aboard the Death Star, shown right before the battlestation is destroyed, were actually extra footage taken from previously shot scenes with Cushing that had been shortened. During production, Lucas decided to add those shots, along with second unit footage of the Death Star gunners preparing to fire, to add more suspense to the film's space battle scenes. Cushing's role as Tarkin was first publicly revealed in a promotional blurb published in the Daily Variety magazine on June 15, 1976. Due to Cushing's fame in the Hammer horror films, the blurb and other promotional materials presented him as the main villain, rather than Vader.

Star Wars premiered on May 25, 1977, and became a global phenomenon and the highest grossing film at that time. Cushing was extremely pleased with the final film and proud of its success, stating that his only disappointment was that Tarkin was killed and could not appear in the subsequent sequels. He believed his own performance was only passable at best, given that he found it difficult to watch and evaluate his own work. Christopher Lee wrote Cushing a letter asking him about the film, including a question about what a Grand Moff was, to which Cushing admitted that he still had no idea. For his performance, Cushing was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 5th Saturn Awards, which were conducted by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. Cushing did not win the award, which went to his co-star Guinness instead.

Around July 1985, Cushing participated in a lengthy interview with the Starlog magazine, in which he reflected on his career, including Star Wars. In it, Cushing rebuffed complaints made by Prowse that the supporting actors in Star Wars were not equitably compensated, given that Hamill, Fisher, Ford, and Guinness received substantial bonuses after the film's enormous success. Cushing felt that his original payment was appropriate and was still surprised to receive a "token bonus." In January 1989, Cushing was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to the film industry.

Cushing died in Canterbury, Kent, England, on August 11, 1994, aged 81. The twenty-fourth issue of the magazine Star Wars Insider, released in late 1995, included a tribute to him by writer Jamie Painter that referenced his wider career.

While developing the prequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones and creating the character of Count Dooku, Lucas realized he wanted another gentlemanly and aristocratic actor in the vein of Cushing. He thus offered the part to Christopher Lee, who was delighted to accept on account of his friendship with Cushing. His casting was announced on StarWars.com on July 11, 2000, and Attack of the Clones was released in 2002.

Lee also appeared in the third film of the trilogy, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, which included a brief appearance by Tarkin at its ending. Lucas and producer Rick McCallum initially wanted to recreate Cushing's likeness using computer-generated imagery or by transposing his younger appearance from a Frankenstein film. Using unused footage from Star Wars and digitally animating Cushing's lips to accommodate new dialogue was also considered. Special effects artist Rob Coleman was worried at the prospect of digitally recreating Cushing, discussing it at length with Lee on account of his friendship with Cushing. Instead, makeup artist Dave Elsey proposed that Tarkin be played by an actor wearing makeup, suggesting Wayne Pygram for the part due to his initial resemblance and ability to recreate Cushing's mannerisms. Pygram's initial makeup tests involved prosthetics for his chin, cheeks, and nose. After their demonstration, Lucas and McCallum agreed with their solution and contacted Cushing's estate to make the necessary arrangements. At one point in production, Elsey applied makeup for actor Ian McDiarmid while they watched Cushing's Sherlock Holmes television series. Lee happened to drop by while they watched the series, which excited Elsey as a fan of Cushing's work.

Starting in 2011, Tarkin also appeared in the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The character was designed by sculptor Darren Marshall, who based him on Cushing's image. Marshall said he grew up with the Hammer films and admired the talents and expressive faces of both Cushing and Lee. After gaining the chance to audition, voice actor Stephen Stanton realized that the creators were looking for a soundalike of a younger Cushing. As such, he rewatched several of Cushing's projects, including the 1966 film Island of Terror, and the Sherlock Holmes television series. He also viewed Cushing's Doctor Who films on the recommendation of The Clone Wars showrunner Dave Filoni, not initially realizing that Cushing was already playing an older character. Stanton intended to match Cushing's cadence in rolling his Rs and hoped to merge Cushing's ruthless portrayal of Tarkin with a younger man's vibrancy.

For additional research, Stanton read Cushing's autobiographies and listened to Cushing's audiobook versions of them. Given that Cushing was already middle-aged when his film career achieved success, Stanton had to imagine what his mid-30s self would have sounded like. Stanton felt nervous taking the role, given the iconic status of both Cushing and Tarkin. Stanton reprised the role in the animated series Star Wars Rebels and was able to match his voice closer to Cushing's performance in the original Star Wars film, given the show's closer timeline to the events of that film.

Following The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of the Star Wars franchise, a novel titled Tarkin by James Luceno was announced, to be published by Del Rey on November 4, 2014. Luceno grew up watching Cushing's Hammer horror films and watched several of the films starring the actor including his Frankenstein, Dr. Who, and Sherlock Holmes films as he wanted to capture a sense of Cushing's line delivery. One line of dialogue from the novel included Tarkin expressing desire for a uniform and pair of boots that fit. Luceno enjoyed writing a scene where Tarkin and Dooku met each other, finding it enjoyable to visualize Cushing and Lee acting alongside each other within Star Wars as they had done in the Hammer horror films.

During production of the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which follows the theft of the Death Star plans that occurred shortly before the events of the original Star Wars film, the film's writers realized that Tarkin was an essential character to their film's story. Director Gareth Edwards approached Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) lead John Knoll to ask if the idea of digitally recreating Cushing's likeness was unreasonable, to which Knoll responded that the company's purpose was to push the boundaries of visual effects forward. The filmmakers gained permission from Cushing's estate to use his likeness.

Casting director Jina Jay sent Edwards a clip of actor Guy Henry for the role, noting a resemblance in his mannerisms to Cushing. Henry had played the role of Sherlock Holmes early in his career and as such had studied Cushing's performance as the same character closely, and he credited Cushing as inspiring his acting career. Edwards approached Henry for the role, knowing that it was a strange request to ask an actor to have his work hidden via another actor's face. Henry agreed on account of Cushing's influence on him, stating that he would have refused if he had been asked to perform as any other actor.

To accurately imitate Cushing, Henry watched scenes of Cushing repeatedly and attempted to mimic his voice effectively, believing the rolled Rs were key. Before each take, Henry would repeat Tarkin's line "You would prefer another target, a military target?" from the original Star Wars to slip in to the character. Henry found the process daunting and did not want to let Cushing down. In directing him, Edwards suggested that Henry could act more like himself rather than Cushing. Henry also suggested that impressionist Rory Bremner may have been a more suitable choice, but Edwards and Lucasfilm insisted on retaining Henry.

To prepare for the recreation, the effects artists at ILM watched Tarkin's scenes from the original film repeatedly and referred back to them constantly throughout production. Knoll was also able to track down a life cast taken of Cushing for his role in the 1984 film Top Secret!, which they digitally scanned to provide reference for Cushing's facial features around the time of 1977's Star Wars. Henry wore motion capture equipment during filming, allowing ILM to make frame-by-frame adjustments to more closely match the simulations of Cushing as required. Adjustments also had to be made to compensate for differences in how Rogue One and Star Wars had been lit. The effects were adjusted over an eighteen-month period, although Edwards and the crew were unsure whether the visual effects would have worked as intended. Other options were considered in case the effects were not deemed adequate, such as representing Tarkin via hologram or giving his dialogue to other characters. The crew only became convinced that they had succeeded in the week prior to the film's release in 2016.

Tarkin's appearance in the film was not explicitly revealed in promotional materials, although alleged leaks about Cushing's recreation were published in the media. Several TV spots also provided fleeting glimpses of the character. Upon the film's release, Edwards was surprised that audiences had not expected the character to appear. The film's credits included a special acknowledgment to Cushing for the use of his likeness.

Cushing's former secretary and overseer of his estate, Joyce Brighton, was amazed at the digital effects, although she could not discuss the nature of the confidential agreement between the estate and Lucasfilm. The deceased actor's appearance in the film triggered discourse and debate in media publications about ethical concerns involved in using an actor's likeness without their physical presence. Knoll rebutted that the work in recreating Cushing was done with a high level of affection and care, which he believed Cushing would have appreciated; Knoll believed that the crew had not done anything of which Cushing would not have approved. Henry himself was relieved with the finished appearance of the character and said he would be happy to reprise the role if called for.

In 2017, Lucasfilm Publishing creative director Michael Siglain and author Cavan Scott discussed links between Star Wars and their favorite horror films, including the Hammer productions starring Cushing and Lee, and riffed on how those stories could be adapted creatively into the Star Wars universe, such as having Tarkin analogous to Dr. Frankenstein, or if Tarkin and Dooku could be connected in a narrative. The resulting idea was for Tarkin to create a clone of Dooku. The concept evolved into the miniseries Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle, the structure of which—involving multiple stories with varying tones and monsters linked by a central character—was influenced by the Cushing/Lee film Dr. Terror's House of Horrors.

Scott's Tarkin-centered story was the second issue of the series, published by IDW Publishing on October 9, 2019. The plot, subtitled "The Curse of Tarkin," involves the Grand Moff battling against an experimental creature of his own making that desires revenge on him, which is similar to the plot of the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The comic also featured a Lambda-class T4-a shuttle used by Tarkin called PC-265, which shared Cushing's initials and referenced his birthdate of May 26. Scott once again took inspiration from Cushing's horror films in writing the comic story "The Haunting of Grand Moff Tarkin," which was part of the anthology Tales from the Death Star published by Dark Horse Comics on October 17, 2023.

While preparing for the role of Moff Gideon in the television series The Mandalorian, Giancarlo Esposito took influence from Cushing's performance as a fellow Moff. Gideon first appeared in the seventh episode of the series' first season, which debuted on Disney+ on December 18, 2019. Likewise, during filming of the sequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker, which premiered on December 20 that year, actor Richard E. Grant took inspiration of Cushing's portrayal as Tarkin to play Allegiant General Enric Pryde.