Drewe Henley

Gordon Drewe Henley (1940 – 14 February 2016) was an English actor. He had a variety of roles in film, television and theatre including as Red X-Wing Squadron Leader Garven Dreis in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. He retired from acting due to bipolar disorder. His second wife was actress Felicity Kendal, with whom he had a son, Charley Henley.

Career Henley appeared in film, television and theatre productions. These included episodes of Z-Cars, UFO, The Avengers and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and a three-week run of Henry V in 1968 in which he played the lead role.

He is known for his role as X-Wing pilot Red Leader (Garven Dreis) in the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), a role for which he was mistakenly credited as Drewe Hemley.

The performance was Henley's final one on film, as he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, then known as manic depression, shortly after completing his part and retired from acting. When the Special Edition cut of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope was released in 1997 it featured an additional scene of Henley in which he talked with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Biggs Darklighter (Garrick Hagon). Henley was pleased with the scene's addition, although his credit was not corrected. He married actress Felicity Kendal in 1968 and they had one son, Charley. They divorced in 1979 after he became manic depressive.

According to an interview with Kendal in 2000, Henley had become a "former" manic depressive. Henley and his illness were discussed in her autobiography White Cargo.

Death In 2013, Henley was diagnosed with vascular dementia and within the last 12 months of his life had become increasingly frail and his dementia was advancing. On Valentine's Day, 2016, he choked to death on a fish pie at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. He was 75 years old.

Henley posthumously reprised his role as Garven Dreis from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story via the use of archive footage. Previously unused audio was also used for some of his scenes.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes 1963 Heavens Above! Doris' Boy Friend Uncredited 1964 Nothing But the Best Denis 633 Squadron Thor Uncredited 1965 Operation Crossbow The Alphabet Murders Bowling Alley Attendant 1966 A Man for All Seasons 1967 The 25th Hour Capt. Brunner 1968 Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter Clive 1970 Hell Boats Sub. Lt. Johnson, R.N. When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth Khaku 1971 Puppet on a Chain Jimmy Duclos Quest for Love Man 1972 Frenzy Forensics technician Uncredited 1976 The Seven-Per-Cent Solution 1977 Star Wars Garven Dreis (Red Leader) Credited as Drewe Hemley 2016 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Archival footage, posthumous appearance

Television

Year Title Role Notes 1967 The Avengers Murdering Groom (in "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Station") 1 episode Wuthering Heights Edgar Linton 3 episodes 1968-1969 Z-Cars Steve Ritchie/Sgt. Walker 3 episodes 1969 UFO (Conflict) Capt. Steve Maddox 1 episode 1970-71 The Doctors Dr. David Owens 6 episodes 1974 The Protectors Clarke 1 episode 1975 Hogg's Back Weight-lifter 1 episode 1977 Space: 1999 Joe Ehrlich 2 episodes