A Complete History Of Every Actor That Was Boba Fett

Boba Fett of "Star Wars" fame is one of the most successful characters in pop culture. While some fans were introduced to him in obscure media that has since become fodder for "Star Wars" trivia nights, most met the mysterious warrior in 1980's "The Empire Strikes Back." Initially, Boba Fett is just one of a bunch of bounty hunters recruited by Darth Vader to help find the Millennium Falcon. You can't see his face, and he doesn't have many lines of dialogue, but he definitely makes an impression. When he plunges into the terrifying sarlacc pit in the 1983 follow-up "Return of the Jedi," it's almost as heartbreaking to watch as it'd be to see Luke Skywalker or Han Solo fall into the toothy beast's enormous maw.

Boba Fett has an interesting behind-the-scenes history, to say the least. It's taken over a dozen actors to bring him to life in movies, TV shows, audio dramas, video games, and even parades. Here, from 1978 to now, is a complete history of all the actors who've played Boba Fett in the "Star Wars" saga.

Before "The Empire Strikes Back" or even the infamous "Star Wars Holiday Special" were unleashed upon the world, Boba Fett appeared before fans in an annual fall parade in San Anselmo, California, a small-ish city north of San Francisco, on Sunday, September 24, 1978. 

As StarWars.com details in their coverage of the event, San Anselmo was home to 52 Park Way, often called George Lucas' "secret lair," which is why it was chosen as the site of the beloved bounty hunter's premiere. Assistant film editor Duwayne Dunham wore the famous armor in the parade simply because he was the right size. According to Dunham, the parade took place on an extremely hot day in San Anselmo, which he recalled "could have been 100 degrees." Since no one knew who his character was at the time, few fans approached him, though Dunham did, in fact, sign autographs. He also remembered having to ask nearby producer Gary Kurtz if "Fett" had one T in it, or two .

The first onscreen appearance of Boba Fett came two months after the San Anselmo parade in the infamously disturbing "Star Wars Holiday Special." The bounty hunter shows up in an animated sequence, voiced by Don Francks. After the Millennium Falcon crashes on a water planet, Luke and the droids try to rescue their friends. As soon as they land, however, they're threatened by a large beast that Fett fights off, thus gaining the heroes' trust. In truth, he's been sent by the Empire to infiltrate the rebels in the hopes of finding the location of their base. Fett's plans are foiled after the droids monitor a transmission between him and Darth Vader.

Francks was a Canadian actor who worked regularly up until his passing in 2016, per The Hollywood Reporter, at the age of 84. His most visible roles include Walter on the Canadian TV series "La Femme Nikita," and Chief Jake Newby in the 1981 slasher classic "My Bloody Valentine."

Despite the existence of parades and much-criticized holiday specials, most fans didn't meet Boba Fett until he went on the hunt for Han Solo in "The Empire Strikes Back." In most of Boba Fett's scenes in that movie and "Return of the Jedi," the man in the suit is Jeremy Bulloch. The English actor had appeared in multiple British TV series and films before becoming part of "Star Wars," but his silent time as Boba Fett remains his most well-remembered role. 

Speaking to io9 in 2011, Bulloch said he never expected Boba Fett's character to become so popular, and was also surprised by the reveal that he's a clone in the 2002 prequel "Attack of the Clones." When asked what he thought Boba got up to after plunging into the sarlacc pit (and presumably escaping), Bulloch postulated that Boba "got hold of Mace Windu and destroyed him," joining the ranks of those fans who theorize the Jedi master survives "Revenge of the Sith."

Per USA Today, Bulloch died in December 2020 at the age of 75 from complications of Parkinson's disease.

Jeremy Bulloch appears in only one scene without his Boba Fett helmet in "The Empire Strikes Back." When Luke Skywalker infiltrates Bespin's Cloud City, Leia spots him and warns that he's falling into a trap. An officer quickly grabs Leia and pulls her away. That officer is Lieutenant Sheckil, played by Bulloch. Shooting schedules conflicted, however: In order to shoot that scene, Bulloch couldn't play Boba Fett in another scene, which sees the bounty hunter walk down a hallway with Vader, Lando, and Lando's cybernetic assistant, Lobot. Thus, John Morton got to be Boba Fett for that one scene, per StarWars.com.

That isn't Morton's only role in "Empire," in fact. He also played rebel pilot Dak Ralter, Luke Skywalker's gunner during the Battle of Hoth who sadly doesn't survive the scene. Having previously worked as a stuntman, Morton didn't act for very long. He did, however, score smaller roles in two other sci-fi classics released the same year as "Empire" — "Flash Gordon" and "Superman II." 

While Jeremy Bulloch and John Morton played the physical role of Boba Fett in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, the voice fans initially heard coming out of Fett's helmet was that of Jason Wingreen. This isn't the case for many modern "Star Wars" fans, as the 2004 DVD release swapped Wingreen's voice with Temuera Morrison's. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wingreen claimed portraying Boba Fett took "no more than 10 minutes" of work.

There's an argument to be made that Wingreen wasn't treated very fairly by the "Star Wars" machine after lending his voice to the famous bounty hunter. His name wasn't included in the credits of "Empire Strikes Back," and his involvement wasn't even public knowledge until roughly 2000. Most shockingly, he didn't receive any residual compensation for the work, even though his voice was used for Boba Fett action figures. 

Wingreen died on Christmas Day, 2015. He was 95 years old.

Back in 1981, George Lucas sold the radio rights for the original "Star Wars" trilogy to NPR, for the whopping sum of $1 — the filmmaker had been listening to NPR since his college days, and was inclined to generosity. He also gave the network permission to use sound effects from the films. All three movies were eventually adapted into radio dramas, split into half-hour-long installments. Certain actors from the movies reprised their roles, including Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), but most of the other characters had to be recast — including Boba Fett.

In the 1983 "Empire Strikes Back" radio play, Alan Rosenberg voiced Boba Fett. Rosenberg has worked steadily since the late 1970s, mostly in television. More recently, he played Professor Clyde Youens on Showtime's "Shameless," and forensic anthropologist Dr. William Golliher on Amazon Prime's "Bosch."

Unfortunately, as Yahoo Voices reported in 2006, by the time a "Return of the Jedi" adaptation could be made, federal funding cuts and a number of other factors had put the radio play adaptation on hold. It wasn't until 1996 that the six-part drama was recorded, with Ed Begley Jr. taking over the role of Boba Fett.

Emperor Palpatine resurrected in clone bodies? Once upon a time, this seemed like an insane idea — until, of course, it became canon. No, we're not talking about Palpatine's return in 2019's "The Rise of Skywalker." We're talking about the "Star Wars: Dark Empire" comics released by Dark Horse Comics. Written by Tom Veitch with art by Cam Kennedy, the story of "Dark Empire" unfolds over the course of two six-issue miniseries released in 1991 and 1994. The action begins six years after "Return of the Jedi," with Imperial forces still fighting against each other and the rebels. Unsurprisingly, Boba Fett is revealed to have survived Tatooine.

"Dark Empire" proved popular enough that it was adapted into two audio dramas. For the role of Boba Fett, character actor Joseph Hacker was chosen. Hacker has appeared on dozens of TV shows over the years, including "Quantum Leap," "Santa Barbara," "Dream On," and the popular thriller "24." He was pretty busy while voicing the "Dark Empire" adaptation as well: In addition to Boba Fett, he also provided the voices for Han Solo and the Jedi Empatojayos Brand.

When the Special Edition of "A New Hope" hit theaters in 1997, it included an uncompleted scene from the original production, in which Jabba the Hutt and Han Solo talk before the latter leaves Tatooine. Along with a group of armed henchmen, Jabba is accompanied by the silent but intimidating figure of Boba Fett. The bounty hunter was worked into the story digitally, courtesy of Industrial Light and Magic animator Mark Austin, who donned the iconic armor.

While his appearance is brief in "A New Hope," Austin obviously feels attached to the role. He played the bounty hunter once again on the Boba Fett Fan Club's web series "No Disintegrations." These episodes are meant to be transmissions from Boba Fett's ship, most taking place within specific chapters of the saga. For example, in "Who's a Good Wookiee?," Fett sends a transmission to Chewbacca after delivering Han Solo to Jabba, daring him to try and rescue his friend.

When it came time to make the Special Edition of "Return of the Jedi," George Lucas apparently wanted more Boba Fett — even though he never did manage to work in an escape from the sarlacc pit. What fans do get is a bit more time with the armored bounty hunter during the extended song and dance number in Jabba the Hutt's palace, with sees Fett flirt with some of the women present in the hive of scum and villainy.

For most of these new Boba Fett shots, special effects artist Don Bies stepped into the character's well-known outfit. Another effects artist named Nelson Hall provided the rest of the new Boba Fett footage. In a 2016 interview with StarWars.com, Bies revealed he also played a musician in Jabba's band, as well as stormtroopers and Imperial officers in "A New Hope." Apparently, he and Nelson Hall popped up in so many scenes as minor characters that "the effects supervisor asked [them] to stop."

While they were released by Dark Horse Comics, the "Star Wars: Dark Forces" books of the late '90s aren't actually comics. In fact, they're prose novellas written by William C. Dietz, with accompanying illustrations by Dean Williams, Ezra Tucker, and Dave Dorman. The "Dark Forces" books are meant to connect the events of the 1995 "Dark Forces" video game and the 1997 follow-up, "Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II." Eventually, they were adapted into audio dramas.

The hero of the second book, "Dark Forces: Rebel Agent" is Kyle Katarn, who's racing to find the Valley of the Jedi before the Empire can. Boba Fett makes an appearance in "Rebel Agent," and voice actor Tim Glovatsky played the bounty hunter in the audio adaptation. He also voices the bodyguard Grentho, as well as an unnamed bouncer. Little information regarding Glovatsky's other work exists online — it's possible this was his only outing as an actor.

If you're a fan of animated "Star Wars" properties, you've likely heard Tom Kane's voice. He's the narrator of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," as well as the voice of Yoda in that series, "Forces of Destiny," "Droid Tales," and a number of other productions. As far as Boba Fett is concerned, however, Kane has portrayed the bounty hunter three times, but only in "Star Wars" video games.

Kane's first outing as Boba Fett arrived in 2000's "Star Wars: Demolition," a game in which players pit different vehicles from the franchise against each other. Playing as Boba Fett adds an interesting twist to this premise, as it means flying around the map using the bounty hunter's jet pack. Kane voiced Fett once again in the 2001 real-time strategy game "Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds." Finally, Kane played Fett in 2003's "Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy," which was particularly well-received. In this game, the player must eventually battle Boba Fett one-on-one to continue the story. 

"Attack of the Clones" reveals a number of pretty huge things about Boba Fett. First, we learn the bounty hunter is a clone created as payment to Jango Fett by the clone makers of Kamino, in exchange for the use of his DNA to create their clone army. We also learn that Boba Fett's appreciation of violence emerged at a young age. Finally, we see his father die on Geonosis at Mace Windu's hands. The image of young Boba Fett holding his father's severed head, still encased in its helmet, is one of the most memorable of the prequel trilogy. 

Young Boba Fett is played by the New Zealand-born actor Daniel Logan. Playing Boba left an interesting mark on the young performer. When Looper spoke to Logan in April 2020, he revealed that, like Jake Lloyd, who played young Anakin Skywalker, he endured some measure of bullying for his appearance in the trilogy. Happily, this hasn't been a hindrance to him embracing his connection with "Star Wars." When Logan got the call to reprise his role on the animated series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," which he was already a fan of, he "pretty much [cried]" with happiness upon learning that George Lucas had asked him to come back by name.

In 1998, LucasArts and Nintendo teamed up to release the flight action game "Star Wars: Rogue Squadron." In this game, the player guides the eponymous rebel group through a variety of mission objectives. It proved popular enough to spawn two sequels, including 2003's "Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike."

Actor Chris Cox played multiple characters in "Rebel Strike," including Admiral Ackbar, an Imperial Officer, and Boba Fett. His Fett performance is spotlighted by a mission that recreates Leia's futile pursuit of the bounty hunter when he leaves Bespin with the frozen Han Solo. 

While "Rebel Strike" is the only game in which Cox portrayed Boba Fett, it's only one of many "Star Wars" games he's worked on. The prolific voice actor can be heard in "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order," the "Force Unleashed" games, "Star Wars: Battlefront," and many more.

While fans in his home country of New Zealand were already familiar with his work before he stepped into the "Star Wars" universe, it was Temuera Morrison's pitch-perfect performance as Jango Fett in "Attack of the Clones" that made him known to audiences around the world. Since that film establishes that Boba is a clone of Jango, it also laid the foundation for Morrison to ameliorate the disappointment so many fans suffered in "Return of the Jedi" by finally returning Boba Fett to the land of the living.

Morrison voiced Boba Fett quite a few times before he played him in a live-action capacity. When the Special Editions of the original trilogy got new home releases in 2004, Jason Wingreen's voice was replaced with Morrison's. Morrison went on to voice the character in numerous "Star Wars" video games, including 2005's "Star Wars: Battlefront II" and 2006's "Star Wars: Empire at War." More recently, in "Chapter 9: The Marshal," the Season 2 premiere of "The Mandalorian," Morrison's Boba Fett witnesses Din Djarin retrieve his old armor from the Marshal Cobb Vanth. Five episodes later in "Chapter 14: The Tragedy," he confronts Djarin while helping him fight off droves of Imperial stormtroopers. 

In the long list of actors who have played the iconic bounty hunter, Morrison emerges as the definitive Boba Fett.

Dee Bradley Baker has enjoyed a long, varied, and incredibly successful voice acting career, which includes a whole lot of work in the "Star Wars" universe. He's perhaps best known for voicing Captain Rex in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" and "Star Wars: The Bad Batch," though he also played a number of clone troopers in both series.

Baker portrayed Boba Fett in both of the "Force Unleashed" games. In 2011, the year after "Force Unleashed II" was released, fans were able to hear him voice the bounty hunter once again, albeit as part of a very different production. That year, Disney's Hollywood Studios debuted "Star Tours — The Adventures Continue," an attraction that features Baker as Boba Fett. 

More recently, Baker has signed on to a very different star-based series. He voices the gelatinous hero Murf — known for, among other things, eating ship parts — on "Star Trek: Prodigy" (via Space.com).