William Hootkins made small parts worth noticing, with a sonorous baritone and enough presence to give an official some authority. We rate him as a supporting actor, though the familiar films often gave him little room.
Fi1m perspective
An official needs to sound as though somebody might obey him. William Hootkins’s sonorous baritone makes Major Eaton, his part in Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), a sensible piece of casting. The film’s excitement depends on clear action and Harrison Ford’s battered capability; Hootkins has a smaller job, and we should not enlarge it simply because we remember him. We like actors who can give a minor figure some weight without requiring the film to stop for them.
His screen career began with supporting work in the mid-1970s, and science fiction and fantasy supplied many of the familiar parts. There is Jek Porkins in Star Wars (1977), Munson in Flash Gordon (1980), then the corrupt Lieutenant Eckhardt in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989). The casting draws on his bulk and his voice, qualities that can make a small part register quickly. The reservation is about the opportunities: many of these appearances are too brief to tell us much about what else he could do.
Hear My Song (1991) offers a more useful way into his work than another list of familiar titles. As Mr. X, the mysterious figure presumed to be the tenor Josef Locke, Hootkins is cast in a part that makes good use of that vocal authority. We were won over by the film because Adrian Dunbar’s nerve and Ned Beatty’s steadiness make the search for a singer matter. Peter Chelsom pushes the sentiment too hard, and the leads deserve the greater share of the credit. Still, Hootkins belongs in a comedy that asks us to believe somebody might be worth all this trouble.
The stage and voice work suggest how much those supporting credits leave out. His Alfred Hitchcock in the stage play Hitchcock Blonde (2003) drew attention for precise physical and vocal impersonation, while his unabridged reading of Moby-Dick gave the baritone rather more room. That work matters when judging an actor so often remembered for a few minutes in a large film. Start with Hear My Song for the warmer comedy, or Raiders of the Lost Ark if the evening needs some excitement.
Biography
William Michael Hootkins was an American actor born on 5 July 1948 in Dallas, Texas. He attended Princeton University and trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, after which he moved to London in the early 1970s. He remained based there for much of his career until relocating to Los Angeles in 2002.
Hootkins appeared in supporting roles in several major films, including Red Six (Porkins) in Star Wars (1977), Major Eaton in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Lieutenant Eckhardt in Batman (1989), and Mr. X in Hear My Song (1991). He also worked extensively in British television and on the stage, originating the role of Alfred Hitchcock in the West End production of Hitchcock Blonde.
Hootkins died of pancreatic cancer on 23 October 2005 in Santa Monica, California, aged 57. He was also known for voice work in radio, animation and video games.
