Hello, I received the following from Chris:
Whilst Robert ‘Bob’ Cope is not a house-hold name in the Star Wars community, his passing has impacted us.
I was informed recently that Bob has just lost a 15 month battle with cancer. Whilst I had not had the pleasure of meeting Bob in person, I had spoken to him numerous times as part of the process of getting the Wookiee Connoisseur Series together (we have been on this project for 6 months now)
Bob was cast in the role of (what would eventually become) Eugroothwa inadvertently. He told me, that his son was going to agencies to get into the business and he would escort him. On 1 such occasion, upon leaving the meeting, the agent ran out after them, as they were leaving the building, chasing Bob rather than his son. Bob was a very tall man (as you’d expect) and the agent had just been given a request to find tall actors to fill a role in a major production. Bob jumped at the chance.
He told me many stories of how all he could tell friends and family was that he was cast in the 3rd Star Wars movie and that was it. He relayed stories of the camaraderie amongst the actors cast as Wookiees and the pleasant time on set.
Without going into too many specifics of it all, Bob also helped me make contact with some of his fellow Wookiees, and even though this piece is to still go ahead, the signatures of Steve Foy and James Rowland would be missing (heck, this piece would not exist probably) if it wasn’t for Bob’s friendliness and willingness to share leads and information for his colleagues.
Wattographs was completely unaware that Bob was ill and the specifics of the cancer and his passing are not known by us, nor should they be. Wattographs has relayed to his sister, that we, along with all Star Wars fans, hope that his passing was painless and that he was surrounded by his loved ones.
Please keep a thought in your prayers for Bob’s family. We may be putting together a special trading card to go along with this piece. It is a way of keeping Bob a part of this project. We are working with Bob's family and if they are willing to allow us to do so, we will include a special trading card of Bob.
Wattographs will be adding David Acord (Wookiee voices) as a replacement for Mr. Cope.
Thank you,
Scott
wattographs.com