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way OT: Star Wars actor Richard LeParmentier dies at 66

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April 17th, 2013 at 3:22 PM
#1
WingsNWolverines
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way OT: Star Wars actor Richard LeParmentier dies at 66

For the Star Wars fans like me this quote is one movie moment we will always remember. "THIS STATION IS NOW THE ULTIMATE POWER IN THE UNIVERSE." One of Star Wars most famous lines came from an actor really nobody even heard of yet his icy tone and stone cold stare and non fear of Sith Lord Darth Vader made an incredible chilling bad ass movie moment. Richard LeParmentier who played General Motti in Star Wars Episode 4 a New Hope in the original trilogy passed away at 66 Tuesday morning while with his family in Austin Texas. LeParmentier also had several roles in other feature films such as appearing in "Rollerball," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," "Octopussy," and in recurring roles on the British television series "Capital City" and "We'll Meet Again."

In 1980, while appearing in "Superman II," he met actress Sarah Dougless, who would become his wife from 1981 to 1984. In the late 1980s, LeParmentier began dividing his time between acting and writing; he wrote episodes for several popular UK TV shows, including "Love Hurts," "Boon," and "The Bill," and wrote the 1995 documentary "Castle Ghosts of England." 

LeParmentier was said he loved his Star Wars fans and traveling the world when he could. Sad day for Star Wars fans nation wide. May the force always be with you Richard. Rest in Peace.

We hate Michigan State. We don't like Penn State too. We don't care for Minnesota, Wisconsin or Notre Dame but we all hate O-S-U.

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April 17th, 2013 at 3:29 PM
#2
dothepose
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Really, that is one of the

Really, that is one of the most famous lines from the movie? Either I'm not as big a nerd as I thought or you're just crazy.

You know, Dude, I myself dabbled in pacifism once. Not in 'Nam of course.

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April 17th, 2013 at 3:33 PM
(Reply to #2) #3
Hello_Heisman
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I find your lack of faith disturbing

(actually, I had no idea who he was but I sadly remember that comically over-acted line). 

"60 percent of the time.....it works every time."

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April 17th, 2013 at 3:34 PM
(Reply to #2) #4
Witz57
Joined: 06/11/2011
MGoPoints: 201
If you're a big enough nerd,

If you're a big enough nerd, EVERY line is one of the most famous lines in the movie ;)

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April 17th, 2013 at 3:29 PM
#5
ijohnb
Joined: 09/21/2009
MGoPoints: 3425
Almost too

far OT, perhaps.

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April 17th, 2013 at 3:40 PM
(Reply to #6) #6
superstringer
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Joined: 02/04/2009
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ummmmm...?

Perhaps the MORE obvious Michigan connection is that Darth Vader's voice is MICHIGAN MAN James Earl Jones?

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April 17th, 2013 at 4:02 PM
(Reply to #10) #7
Hello_Heisman
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Yes, but here's what they probably don't tell the kids

at orientation in the year 2013.  Way back in the mid 1990's, UM hadn't yet transitioned to the ability for students to register for the next semester's classes online.  As recently as 1994 (my freshman year), students had to actually go register for classes in person which even at the time seemed archaic and ridiculous.

Beginning in 1995, the university implemented a registration by phone service.  There was an acronym for this service that was called CRISP - I can't remember now what the acronym stood for but just like any other voice automated service, there was a relatively non-offensive female voice that guided you through the registration of your classes.  This voice was referred to as the CRISP lady. 

The early days of CRISP sucked.  While you could now register for classes from the comforts of your bedroom, the entire system was slow and things took forever to process because everyone was calling into it at the same time to register.  Given the long wait times and frequent voice overs you'd hear from the CRISP lady, someone got the bright idea of "hey, wouldn't it be cool if we had someone famous do the voice over for CRISP instead of the CRISP lady?" 

That idea turned into a full blown editorial in the Michigan Daily in either 1995 or 1996, when a movement started to get James Earl Jones to be the new voice of CRISP.  I don't remember any of the specifics of the article besides the very beginning which went as follows:

"Luke....I....am your father...."

"(If this is not correct, press 1)"

Sadly, the movement died before we ever were able to replace the CRISP lady's voice with the voice of Darth Vader.

On the bright side, I'm glad to see that this stupidly random anecdote that is as off topic as off topic can possibly be just became my 100th point on this site. 

"60 percent of the time.....it works every time."

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April 17th, 2013 at 4:21 PM
(Reply to #14) #8
tf
Joined: 02/05/2009
MGoPoints: 342
CRISP = Course/Class

CRISP = Course/Class Registration Involving Student Participation IIRC.

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April 17th, 2013 at 4:56 PM
(Reply to #15) #9
bwlag
Joined: 07/29/2008
MGoPoints: 182
Ugh

I believe you are correct. A little bit of nostalgia think ing about CRISP, but, wow, did CRISP suck. Standing in a line that stretched halfway down the basement hall in Angell, waiting to get to sit down in a chair while the person on the computer punched in your classes and told you that these three courses are full, so please try again.

Missed the phone system by two years.

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April 17th, 2013 at 6:42 PM
(Reply to #19) #10
Hello_Heisman
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You didn't miss anything

The phone system was equally as time consuming, and just as bad about ensuring that all the classes you tried to register for were full. I once broke a phone after getting completely frustrated from dealing with that piece of shit system. Even without Darth Vader as its voice, I was still driven to the Dark Side of the Force by CRISP!

"60 percent of the time.....it works every time."

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April 17th, 2013 at 10:51 PM
(Reply to #15) #11
g_dubya
Joined: 07/01/2011
MGoPoints: 3
Close

You're close .... it was actually Computerized Registration Involving Student Participation.  I know it goes back at least to 1983 and probably a bit before that.  If I remember right, when I was there in the late '80s, CRISP took place at Lorch Hall.

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April 18th, 2013 at 7:28 AM
(Reply to #32) #12
mvp
Joined: 06/30/2008
MGoPoints: 599
Correct

This is correct.  CRISP goes back to well before phone or online registration.  It's just that there was a computer operator who actually entered your requests into the system.

By the time I got to school (fall of '89) LSA and other schools were separate.  Engineers had to register in person, at a particular time, on North Campus.

Part of why I remember these details so well is that in late March of 1992, my wife (then girlfriend) went to the Final Four in Minneapolis with a friend while I stayed in Ann Arbor because my CRISP time was at 8:00 in the morning the Monday of the National Championship game.  If I had missed that time, I might not have gotten the classes I needed to graduate the following year.

At least we got to go to New Orleans the next year!

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April 17th, 2013 at 5:47 PM
(Reply to #14) #13
LSAClassOf2000
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In The Michigan Daily...

The September 15th, 1997 issue of the Daily (start of my sophomore year) provides some of the background as well. Google has as scanned copy of the paper edition and story here - (LINK). I remember this because it was run by the "James Earl Jones For CRISP Lady Task Force", and I actually knew several of its members. 

"Funny isn't it, how naughty dentists always make that one fatal mistake."

Follow the random tweets of a Michigan alum - http://twitter.com/#!/LorneEC3

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April 17th, 2013 at 6:33 PM
(Reply to #25) #14
Hello_Heisman
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Awesome

You rule for finding that old link!!

"60 percent of the time.....it works every time."

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April 17th, 2013 at 3:42 PM
(Reply to #6) #15
Witz57
Joined: 06/11/2011
MGoPoints: 201
Kasdan is a cool guy. When my

Kasdan is a cool guy. When my then roommate and I moved to LA he talked to us for an hour on the phone after we wrote to him. Very generous of him.



At the end though when we asked him the 'what would you do if you were us to get started' question. He basically said what was helpful to him was that his friend George asked him to write a sequel to his scifi movie. I think that was maybe a unique to him circumstance and not necessarily what the average film student can hope for.

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April 17th, 2013 at 5:38 PM
(Reply to #6) #16
Michigasling
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And to bring this thread even less OT,

Lawrence Kasdan wrote, directed and produced "The Big Chill" - about a reunion of college friends who in one memorable scene are watching a Michigan football game on TV.

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April 17th, 2013 at 7:29 PM
(Reply to #24) #17
Thorin
Joined: 04/07/2009
MGoPoints: 14044
video

mgovideo

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April 17th, 2013 at 3:38 PM
#18
TrppWlbrnID
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Joined: 10/29/2009
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Don't try to frighten us with

Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient Jedi religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you enough clairvoyance to find the rebels' hidden fortress...

guh

 

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April 17th, 2013 at 8:15 PM
(Reply to #8) #19
wlubd
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I find your lack of faith,

I find your lack of faith, disturbing...

Twitter

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April 17th, 2013 at 3:57 PM
#20
M-Wolverine
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Ha, when I saw this I thought it would be too off topic

But I should have had more faith.

 

free chitownblue2

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April 17th, 2013 at 4:21 PM
#21
Logan88
Joined: 01/05/2009
MGoPoints: 3125
Okay, I need some help from a

Okay, I need some help from a true Star Wars nerd: Why was Darth Vader not able to use Force (Sith) Lightning? It just seems terribly inefficient to waste time with a lightsaber when you can just blast people from a distance like the Emperor.

We ARE Michigan....COME GET SOME!!!

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April 17th, 2013 at 4:43 PM
(Reply to #16) #22
Bigasshammm
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It's my understanding that he

It's my understanding that he never learned how to do force lightning. The books may explain further as I haven't read them all but I'm betting that Palpatine just never let him into that secret as darth would then become more powerful than he and overthrow him. There can only be two.

What if when the hatches finally open out of the UFOs come thousands of 100ft Native American Indians? We're going to be watching like "F%&# those are huge Indians! Please tell me they're not huge Indians."

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April 17th, 2013 at 4:49 PM
(Reply to #16) #23
russale2012
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I thought it was because he

I thought it was because he had robotic arms, but what do I know?

Urban Meyer lives in a van down by the river.

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April 17th, 2013 at 4:59 PM
(Reply to #16) #24
bwlag
Joined: 07/29/2008
MGoPoints: 182
Because light sabers are far

Because light sabers are far more elegant. If you think blasters are clumsy and random, force lightning is even worse.

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April 17th, 2013 at 5:06 PM
(Reply to #16) #25
joffle
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MGoPoints: 1129
I don't think it's because

I don't think it's because the Emperor never taught him. After all, Dooku used it often in the prequel trilogy. Also, in the Force Unleashed video games, Vader's apprentice Starkiller used it liberally.

I would guess that it has to do with much of Vader's body being robotic. It could conceivably be impossible to shoot force lightning through robotic arms. But even if not, you could imagine that it would be a bad idea to mess with it when you are kept alive by electronic life support.

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April 17th, 2013 at 5:34 PM
#26
WMUgoblue
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Han shot first.

Han shot first.

Blank.....Blank......You're not looking at the big picture here.

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April 17th, 2013 at 5:37 PM
(Reply to #22) #27
DKohn81
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Nah Greedo

Nah Greedo

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April 18th, 2013 at 9:09 AM
(Reply to #23) #28
thisisme08
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Go home George Lucas, your

Go home George Lucas, your drunk.  Everyone knows Han shot first. 

Blue is Faster

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April 17th, 2013 at 6:35 PM
#29
Mattinboots
Joined: 11/21/2008
MGoPoints: 596
As someone else mentioned, it

As someone else mentioned, it was because of his robotic arms. To add to that, that's why Palpatine was so interested in Luke. With only one robotic arm Luke could become more powerful than Anakin.

Edit: wrong spot. Meant to reply to why Vader couldn't do force lightning.

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April 17th, 2013 at 8:42 PM
#30
Coach Schiano
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Joined: 10/05/2008
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that does it

that does it, i'm not going to see episode VII now

I am not really Coach Schiano. -Coach Schiano on Mgoblog

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April 18th, 2013 at 11:22 AM
#31
GoWings2008
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*Simulated*

Insert inappropriate joke about Octopussy

The Team, The Team, The Team

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