Richard LeParmentier

In the nearly 6 years that I have run this blog, I never deviated from hockey. In fact, I pretty much stick to just hockey when it comes to collecting autographs, But today I am making a rare exception. This past Saturday, I got an autograph from actor Richard LeParmentier, who played Admiral Motti in the original Star Wars film from 1977--and it is too cool to not share.



LeParmentier was at Quake Collectibles, a store in Chicago that specializes in old toys and games. I got an 8" x 10" photo of  the now-retired actor, who wrote on the picture:

Sal -
"Your sad devotion to that ancient religion..." 
Richard LaParmentier

He also wrote on the Death Star in the photo my office with an arrow pointing to one of the windows. Hilarious!

If you aren't a die-hard oldschool Star Wars fan like me, then you're probably trying to remember who Admiral Motti was. He's the guy who mouths off to Darth Vader and then gets "force choked" by the Dark Lord of the Sith. Vader then makes a comment about Motti's "lack of faith," which is one of my favorite film quotes of all time.

Here's the scene--only 2 minutes long, and cool to watch even if you remember Star Wars like it was yesterday:



Later in the day, LeParmentier did a question and answer session with the fans. Most of the questions, naturally, revolved around his involvement in Star Wars. He shared several of his stories from the set and what it was like to act with Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher. Thirty-five years later, LeParmentier is still very happy to have played a part in the film, albeit in a small role.



Tomorrow, it's back to hockey autographs on Sal's Hockey Autographs--that is a promise!