Erik Bauersfeld (June 28, 1922 – April 3, 2016) was an American radio dramatist and voice actor.
He worked at radio station KPFA-FM over 30 years, where he created The Black Mass, a horror radio series. He was also noted for providing the voices of Admiral Ackbar and Bib Fortuna in Return of the Jedi (1983), the third film of the original Star Wars trilogy. He subsequently reprised the Ackbar role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).
Early life Bauersfeld was attracted to radio work at a very young age. During World War II, he served in the United States Navy. His post-secondary education included time studying at Cooper Union in New York, and then at the University of California, Berkeley, where he concentrated on aesthetics and painting.
Career Bauersfeld was teaching at the San Francisco Art Institute, when he began working at Pacifica Radio station KPFA-FM in Berkeley, beginning in 1961. He served as the Director of KPFA's Drama and Literature Department for 31 years. While at KPFA, he created and starred in the 1960s radio horror series The Black Mass. Outside of radio, he dabbled in voiceover work in films and video games. Severe stage fright prevented his planned career in theatre or live action film, but Bauersfeld found voice and radio work more rewarding.
Bauersfeld was working for Lucasfilm on a radio project, with sound designer Randy Thom, when eventually he was approached by Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt to perform voice work for Return of the Jedi. Burtt asked him to read for the part of Ackbar. According to Bauersfeld, he was shown a picture of Ackbar and instantly created the character's voice. Ackbar's lines, including the memorable exclamation "It's a trap!", took an hour for Bauersfeld to record. He then spent an additional 30 minutes reading for the voice of Bib Fortuna who spoke entirely in a fictional language. Bauersfeld initially received no screen credit, but he recalls fans of the Star Wars films eventually identified him as the uncredited voice actor. He was respectful of the Star Wars films and their devoted fan base, but also said he had not watched Return of the Jedi since its original release and was described as "flattered but a bit perplexed" by the continuing attention for performing Ackbar.
He had earlier read for the part of Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back, a role that eventually went to puppeteer Frank Oz.
He also voiced several characters in the 1979 Highbridge audio productions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Bauersfeld reprised his role as the voice of Admiral Ackbar in several video games (including Star Wars: X-Wing and Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron), as well as in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Following his death in 2016, the role of Ackbar was taken over by veteran Star Wars voice actor Tom Kane for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Personal life and death He was a close friend of poet and activist Lawrence Ferlinghetti. In 2015, he attended the Star Wars Celebration at Anaheim.
Bauersfeld died at his home in Berkeley, California, on 3 April 2016, at the age of 93.
Filmography
Films
Year Title Role Notes 1983 Return of the Jedi Admiral Gial Ackbar / Bib Fortuna (voice) 2001 A.I. Artificial Intelligence Gardener (voice) 2015 Crimson Peak Additional voices Star Wars: The Force Awakens Admiral Gial Ackbar (voice) Final film role
Video games
Year Title Voice role 1993 Star Wars: X-Wing Admiral Gial Ackbar 2009 Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
References
External links
http://bardradio.com