Anthony Daniels

Anthony Daniels ( ; born 21 February 1946) is an English actor and mime artist, best known for playing in 11 Star Wars films. He is the only actor to have either appeared in or been involved with all theatrical films in the series, and has been involved in many of their spin-offs, including television series, video games, and radio serials. Daniels was the voice of Legolas in the Ralph Bakshi animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings (1978). He has appeared intermittently on British television in various dramas, including playing a pathologist in Prime Suspect starring Helen Mirren. Daniels is currently an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center. Early life Daniels was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, the son of a plastics company executive. He was educated at Giggleswick School and studied law for two years at university, then dropped out to participate in amateur dramatics and attend Rose Bruford College. After leaving the college in 1974, Daniels worked on BBC Radio and for the National Theatre of Great Britain at The Young Vic. Whilst working in the theatre, he was invited to meet director George Lucas, who was casting for Star Wars. Daniels at first turned down the interview but was persuaded by his agent to meet Lucas. Daniels has said that before his role in Star Wars, the only science fiction film he had ever seen in a theatre was 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968; he was so displeased with the film that he walked out after 10 minutes and demanded his money back. After Daniels was cast as , Lucas recommended that he watch the film in its entirety to study HAL 9000's voice. In a 2011 interview, Daniels said that he now regards 2001 as a masterpiece and that he also enjoys post-apocalyptic films such as Mad Max.