Best known for his contributions to the iconic Gremlins and Star Wars franchises, actor Mark Dodson has passed away this week at the age of 64, Deadline reports today.
Mark Dodson memorably voiced the character Salacious Crumb in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, and he also did uncredited zombie voice work for George Romero’s Day of the Dead.
Dodson’s unique voice acting skills were put to excellent use in both Joe Dante’s Gremlins and sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch, with the actor voicing multiple Gremlins characters.
It was Dodson’s voice work as Salacious Crumb in Return of the Jedi that led to him voicing the Gremlins, which were seen as being similar to the Salacious Crumb character.
Speaking of his work in the Gremlins franchise in a 2023 chat with the YouTube channel Diabolic Shrimp (watch the full video below), Mark Dodson explained his contributions:
“I love horror, so it’s fun to me. Gizmo is Howie Mandel and Frank Welker is Stripe, and then I’m pretty much all the rest of the Gremlins. It was all improvised.”
Dodson’s other roles throughout his decades-spanning career include TV shows, movies and video games such as Wishman (1983), Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985), Darkwing Duck (1991), Star Trek Online (2010), Painkiller: Hell & Damnation (2012), Arachnicide (2014), Killing Floor 2 (2015), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), and Ghostrunner (2020).
Stellar Appearances, Dodson’s talent agency, said in a statement, “Mark worked on dozens of movies, video games, commercials and advertisements adding his unique voice and sound to each character and script he touched. Mark truly loved his fans and enjoyed meeting them at conventions around the world. Mark was honored to be inducted into dozens of the local chapters of the Star Wars 501st Legions over the past several decades.”
Mark Dodson is survived by his daughter Ciara and his grandchildren.