Treat Williams had a long and storied career before he passed away following a motorcycle accident at the age of 71. He was in everything from the motion picture version of “Hair” to “Everwood” to “Chicago Fire,” where he recurred as Benny Severide but eventually exited due to storyline-dictated reasons. And he might — just might — have appeared in “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.”
It’s a matter of conjecture from many sources, but the official “Star Wars” website as well as “The Making of The Empire Strikes Back” by Jonathan W. Rinzler confirmed that Williams is indeed hidden somewhere within the film as an unnamed Rebel soldier who works at Echo Base on Hoth. The apparent cameo came about because he was visiting Carrie Fisher at the studio where the interiors for those scenes were being shot. The crew encouraged Williams to get into costume and play the part of an extra, and get into a costume and play the part of an extra he did.
Decades later, fans have made a game of trying to find Williams somewhere in the body of the film. No one’s found him in the crowd, and very little exists as proof that he’s in the motion picture beyond various behind-the-scenes pictures of him on the set and in the Rinzler book. Lucasfilm has only acknowledged the actor’s existence in the movie once, via the aforementioned StarWars.com article, which has long been deleted. But at least one person with a small role in the film says they saw Williams work as an extra that day.
Treat Williams’ presence in The Empire Strikes Back has been confirmed by one actor
It turns out there’s some witness testimony that backs up Treat Williams’ presence within the movie, even if Lucasfilm historians and “Star Wars” fans can’t quite agree upon it.
John Morton, who plays Dak Ralter in “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back,” says that he witnessed Treat Williams ply his trade on the set of the film. In an interview with TheForce.net, he echoed the story about Williams visiting friends and hanging out on the film’s English set and ending up onscreen. “He appeared in those ice planet scenes as one of the lieutenants or officers in the Rebel Forces,” Morton said, noting that he didn’t think Williams took credit for the walk-on. Indeed, he did not. “He just said, “Hey, this looks like a lotta fun and I’d kinda like to be a part of it, mind if I take a role of an extra?” Everybody said, “Yeah!” So here you have this Hollywood star who just decided, for probably no salary, just to hang out for a few scenes and was quite happy with the role of an extra in Empire Strikes Back. And that was kinda the way it was,” Morton continued.
The mood — looser on this film’s set than it was on “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” – led to camaraderie that’s quite clear from Williams’ on-set photos, which continue to circulate online. The debate regarding where he is in the movie, who he plays, and if the footage exists will continue to rage on. Time will tell if he’s ever spotted.
