COVID-19: 'Star Wars' actor and 'Batman Begins' dialect coach Andrew Jack dies at 76 due to coronavirus
Actor Andrew Jack, best known for playing Major Ematt in "Stars Wars" films, has died of coronavirus complications at the age of 76. Jack passed away at a hospital in Chertsey, England on Tuesday, according to his agent, Jill McCullough, reported Deadline. "Andrew lived on one of the oldest working houseboats on the Thames, he was fiercely independent but madly in love with his wife, also a dialect coach," McCullough added.
The actor's wife Gabrielle Rogers also shared a note about Jack on social media. "Andrew Jack was diagnosed with coronavirus 2 days ago.
He was in no pain, and he slipped away peacefully knowing that his family were all 'with' him," Rogers wrote.
Jack starred as Major Ematt in "Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi" and "Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens". He had a voice role in "Solo: A Star Wars Story", the "Star Wars" spin-off prequel.
As a dialect coach in Hollywood, Jack worked on high-profile projects such as "Men in Black: International", "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "Thor: Ragnarok" and two of the Avengers movies.
He also worked with Hollywood star Christian Bale on his voice for "Batman Begins" (2008) and was going to work with Robert Pattinson on "The Batman", the DC film to be directed by Matt Reeves.
Actor Joonas Suotamo, who played Chewbacca, paid tributes to Jack on social media. "Today we learned that a member of our 'Star Wars' family, Andrew Jack, passed away due to complications from COVID-19.
"In addition to playing Major Ematt in 'The Force Awakens', his work as a dialect coach on 'TFA', 'Solo', & other 'SW' films revealed a man who was passionate & caring for both his work and those around him.
My thoughts are with his family and friends (sic)," Suotamo wrote on Twitter.
