Collider may be surprised that John Lithgow voiced Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back Radio Drama way back in 1982 alongside Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Ann Sachs, Perry King, Brock Peters and Bernard Behrens, but in this corner of the GFFA we remember it very well indeed, and here he is talking with obvious fondness about his time portraying the venerable Jedi Master.
If you’re curious to know more about the three radio dramas, be sure to check out Maria and John Tenuto’s excellent 2024 book The Star Wars Radio Dramas: Brian Daley and the Serialization That Saved NPR.
When you think of the iconic, word-twisting voice behind Jedi Master Yoda, the first name that probably comes to mind is Frank Oz, and rightfully so. Oz first voiced the character in The Empire Strikes Back, the 1980 Star Wars classic that earned over $550 million at the worldwide box office, and he recently lent his voice to the character in The Rise of Skywalker, the controversial final installment in the Skywalker Saga. However, there have been others to voice the small green Force-user, including Tom Kane, Piotr Michael, and even John Lithgow. Lithgow recently caught up with Collider’s Steve Weintraub for the film The Rule of Jenny Pen, and he spoke about not only remembering every detail about playing Yoda but also the hilarious way in which he first landed the role.
It’s been almost 30 years since Lithgow voiced Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back radio dramatizations, and while he never took on the role in live-action, his career has certainly not suffered from it. Lithgow is a two-time Oscar nominee for his work in The World According to Garp and Terms of Endearment, which saw him nominated in back-to-back years at the Academy Awards. More recently, Lithgow has become famous for his performance as Ben Hull in Life Is Strange, the 2014 romantic drama starring Alfred Molina and Marisa Tomei. He is also known for his work as the Trinity Killer in Dexter, and his performance was such a hit that it warranted a Trinity spin-off, which Lithgow will return and lend his voice to. He will also star as Dumbledore in the next generation of Harry Potter stories.
Lithgow would also return to the role in 1996 for the Return of the Jedi Radio Drama, and one hopes that if the Prequel Trilogy were ever to be adapted he’d come back once more.
