Egbert Sen

Egbert Sen (c. 1932 – March 14, 2019) was a Pakistani actor who played Willrow Hood in 1980's 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

Born around 1932 in British-ruled India,^[1] Egbert Sushil Kumar Sen^[4] was a Pakistani^[1] who emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1957, finding employment as a musician performing Indian music for the BBC in England. He contributed to the score of the 1965 Beatles film Help!. Sen 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 1980 original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, Sen was a supporting cast member who played a character later named Willrow Hood in the corridors of Cloud City, running amidst the evacuation of the city holding a camtono container.^[5] 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 rebel heroes through the corridors.^[2] The scene was filmed between April 5–12, 1979, on stage 2 at Elstree.^[6]

Sen found additional work as a supporting cast member in films throughout the 1980s, including Steven Spielberg's Lucasfilm productions Raiders of the Lost Ark of 1981^[7] and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom of 1984, acclaimed British films such as My Beautiful Laundrette of 1985,^[7] 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^[8] or in an interview with The Guardian^[7] that were both published in 2011, and he passed away while resident at the Aashna House care home in south London in 2019.^[2]

Willrow Hood has attracted a cult following among Star Wars fans. From the 2010s onward, Star Wars Celebration conventions have featured "The Running of the Hoods," a cosplaying event of fans who, like Hood in The Empire Strikes Back, dressed in orange jumpsuits and ran across the convention floor holding a container.^[9] His daughters Dolly and Paula discovered Sen's 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.^[2] The Running of the Hoods at the subsequent Star Wars Celebration, Celebration Japan in 2025, was dedicated to Egbert Sen.^[3]

Works

Filmography

Notes and references

External links

• First Cut – Asian Gracefully (4 March 2011) on the Japan in 30 seconds YouTube channel (backup link)
• Le Plus GROS MYSTÈRE de STAR WARS Enfin Résolu ! (après 43 ans) on the Nicolas Delage YouTube channel (August 14, 2023) (backup link)