Most of us have seen “Star Wars episode IV” enough to remember the small details of the film. The character named Greedo made a brief appearance that only lasted for a few moments until hid death at the hands of Han Solo, but he is still memorable. He was the Rodian bounty hunter that located Han at the local watering hole in Mos Eisley. Some people may have missed his appearance because it was so brief, but the majority remember that he represented a close all for Solo who was being tracked through the galaxy for the price on his head. Here are five interesting facts about Greedo that most people don’t know.
1. Han Solo fired the first shot
Greedo was a bounty hunter who knew that Han Solo could be a dangerous fugitive. He went in the Cantina at Mos Eisley with every intention of taking him in dead or alive and was fully armed. Little did he know that Solo had a weapon in his hand that was hidden under the table. It was aimed at him and ready to fire as he uttered threats to the wanted smuggles. There has long been a debate over who shot first, but it was Han Solo. Greedo intended to kill Solo, but while he was busy making his threats, Solo didn’t waste any time waiting to find out. He fired the one and only shot that killed Greedo on the spot.
2. 2 actors played the part of Greedo in “A New Hope”
“Star Wars” casting execs were making a habit of having their characters played by multiple actors. We all know that Chewbacca was initially played by Peter Mayhew, then later by a younger actro named Joonas Suotamo. Greedo was also played by two different actors, even though his appearance was brief. During the cantina scene, Maria De Aragon was the actress behind the fish face, but she remained uncredited for the role. She was used for the close up shots because it was easier for makeup and special effects artists to get a more life like appearance with her face versus the actor who played him the rest of the time. Paul Blake received the credit for the role for the rest of Greedo’s short life in the film.
3. He worked for Jabba the Hutt
While Greedo was on Tatooine, he got involved with Jabba the Hutt, the infamous and notorious crime boss. He was under his employ as a bounty hunter, assigned to track down the people and creatures who owed Jabba money. Jabba kept him in steady work, and the best job was the assignment to bring Solo in for stiffing Jabba earlier in a smuggling deal gone wrong. Jabba put a high price on Solo’s head because he wanted him so badly. Greedo’s name says it all. Even through it was a dangerous task, he was in it for the money, but he didn’t realize that it would lead to his demise.
4. Greedo and and Jabba the Hutt share the same voice
Even through there were two actors who physically donned the costume and makeup to play the role of Greedo, his voice was the product of yet another actor. De Aragon and Blake were the physical actors and Larry Ward suppled his voice. In an interesting side note, it was Ward to later provided the voice for Jabba the Hutt. He had a knack for voicing strange creatures.
5. Greedo’s first job in “Star Wars” was to kidnap the daughters of Papanoida
Greedo was hired by Jabba to do a lot of differentjobs, but the first one was to locate the daughters of Pantoran Chairman Papanoida’s daughters and then kidnap them on behalf of the foul villain Jabba the Hutt. Greedo joined forces with another bounty hunter to complete the task. Greedo was injured in the fracas that ensued and this left behind a smear of blood that allowed Papanoida to identify the abductor and track him to Jabba’s palace.
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