Drewe Henley

Drewe Henley was an English actor who worked in film, television and theater. Born in Malvern in 1940, he took parts in Z-Cars, The Avengers, UFO, and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), and in 1968 he played the lead in a three-week stage run of Henry V. He was best known for playing Garven Dreis, the X-Wing pilot Red Leader, in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), a part for which the credits mistakenly listed him as Drewe Hemley. He used an American accent for the role, and his performance was not dubbed afterward. He portrayed Red Leader as a battle veteran with little excitement in his voice, while George Lucas wanted more, so they settled on a formal start that grew more animated as the battle went on. The 1997 Special Edition featured an additional scene of him with Luke Skywalker and Biggs Darklighter. That was his final film, and he retired from acting. Henley died in 2016.