Kenneth Coombs

For other uses, see Kenneth.

"That's a lot of people, so you must have, perhaps, been overwhelmed at that stage."
"A little bit, it was one of the early films that I did, so uh, you know, it came as a bit of a shock."

―Darryl James and Kenneth Coombs, on Coombs' experience while on set during the Emperor's Arrival scene^[4]

Kenneth Coombs was an actor who portrayed an Imperial officer in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.

Biography

Kenneth Coombs is an English actor^[2] who portrayed an Imperial officer^[3] in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi,^[4] the 1983 original trilogy film.^[5] Coombs recalled being cast as a background actor for the film in 1982. He did test fittings as a stormtrooper, but he was not the right size for the costume, and was therefore cast as an Imperial officer. Coombs worked on the Emperor's Arrival Scene for one day, along with over 200 other actors, including prolific background player Rodney Cardiff. At the time, being in such a large production was new to Coombs.^[4] As the years went by, Coombs started attending conventions as a Star Wars guest.^[3] A behind-the-scenes image of Coombs also appears on^[4] the Imperial Officer figure of the Star Wars: Power of the Jedi toyline.^[6]

Many have misidentified Coombs' character as DS-181-4, though he clarified this was not him. Coombs thinks they will play "The Imperial March" at his funeral.^[4]

According to Coombs, he also appeared in the 2018 film Solo: A Star Wars Story, directed by Ron Howard, portraying a "Landside Traveller;" however, he said the scene he was in was very dark and he is hard to identify.^[7]