Mark Dodson, who is best known for his roles in Star Wars and Gremlins, has reportedly passed away at the age of 64.
According to TMZ, Dodson passed away in Evansville, Indiana. He had been in the area for Horror Con. It was revealed that after flying in and checking into the hotel, the actor suffered a “massive heart attack” while sleeping.
Mark Dodson notably received his first big break in Hollywood while starring in the 1983’s Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. He was the voice of Salacious Crumb, notably the little creature with a high-pitched voice that was seen perched next to Jabba the Hut.
One year later, Dodson starred in Gremlins as the voice of the Mogwai. He then spent decades working in films, video games, radio, and commercials.
Mark Dodson’s rep spoke to TMZ about the late actor. “His unique voice and sound to each character and script he touched,” they told the media outlet. His daughter went on to add that he never ceased” on making her proud.
Dodson appeared in Day of the Dead, Wishman, and Ewokes: The Battle of Endor. He was on various cartoon shows, such as Darkwing Duck and Bonkers.
The Peter Mayhew Foundation paid tribute to Dodson in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we learn of the passing of Mark Dodson. Mark was genuine and funny and the characters he brought to life will always be as iconic as he was kind. Thank you for everything Mark, you are missed.”
Mark Dodson Spoke About How He First Got Into the Voice Acting Business
During a 2010 interview, Mark Dodson reflected on when she first started in the voice acting business.
“I went out to Los Angeles right after high school in 1978,” Dodson recalled. And I wanted to work into film as a director/producer. I know that I couldn’t afford to go to college as my family didn’t have the ability to do that, so I thought I should start as a production and work my way up.”
Mark Dodson said after arriving in Los Angeles, he had various jobs to pay the bills. “There, I met a woman called Rita Bozyk who worked for Lucasfilm, doing the toys. We ended up together and she was told that she was going to be transferred to Marin County. I moved with her there.”
“They were looking for carpenters to work at the Kerner Company in San Rafael where they were building the sound studio Sprockets. I took the job, working as a laborer.”
Mark Dodson pointed out that sound designer and film director Ben Burtt was looking for a voice for a creature at the time. He was looking for someone who had a raccoon. Sure enough, Dodson and Bozyk had a raccoon.
“Ben came to our house to record, but the raccoon didn’t make the sounds he wanted. We asked him to leave the equipment so we could record it when Mabel would make the sound.”
“I had done some voices since I was a kid and thought why shouldn’t I try and see if Ben can use it. I did some impersonations, recorded them, returned the equipment to Ben and said I did some voices.”
He ended up auditioning for E.T. before moving on to Return of the Jedi.