Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
I asked my writing partner, Obi-Swan, to write this goodbye to character actor/stuntman Pat Roach because I know how fond he was of his work, and because writing these things always kills me. I think it’s a really sweet goodbye to one of those actors who many people knew by face, if not by name, and I’m pleased to publish it, if saddened by the reason.
Indiana Jones couldn’t kill him. James Bond didn’t get him. English pro wrestler and memorable big-screen genre actor Pat Roach has finally faced his most lethal opponent: Cancer. In January 2004, it was revealed to the press that he had been contending with this evil foe for three years. Roach wrestled nobly, but sadly lost the match early Saturday morning.
‘Big’ Pat Roach was born in Birmingham, England on May 19, 1937. Before he achieved Hollywood notoriety, he gained local renown as a professional wrestler in the UK. He made his big screen debut in 1971 as a bouncer in Stanley Kubrick’s staggering work or genius, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. In 1975, he rejoined Kubrick on another staggering work of genius, an adaptation of Thackery’s BARRY LYNDON, in which he bare-knuckle boxes Ryan O’Neal and somehow loses. This was actually a pretty nice early role for Pat. It was mostly physical, but like all of his work, was a solid piece of character acting.
It wasn’t until 1981 that I was introduced to this formidable screen giant in the first Indiana Jones movie, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. I was eleven and I will never forget my first impression of the man. I didn’t know it at the time, but the nearly 6-foot-5 actor actually played two roles in the movie: the bald mechanic who beat Indy to a pulp on the German airfield, and the towering Sherpa who beat the tar out of Indy in Marion’s Nepal tavern.
By the time INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM came out, I was well aware of Roach as an actor and delighted to see him return to the series as a temple guard who beats Indy senseless during the conveyor belt fight. I was disappointed, though, by the foolish decision to cut his appearance in the third installment, INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, down to almost nothing. If you blink, you might miss him completely as a hefty Gestapo agent waving his hand frantically outside the Zeppelin. It should have been made a law: if Pat Roach doesn’t get to beat Indiana Jones within an inch of his life, it bloody-well has no business being called an INDIANA JONES movie.
Roach’s biggest movie role came in 1988 when producer George Lucas, who auditioned the actor for the role of Darth Vader in STAR WARS, hired him to play General Kael, the skull-masked Vader-esque character in Ron Howard’s WILLOW. Roach seemed a little out of his element for the most part in this fantasy world, spending much of the movie under the mask, shaking his sword at people. When the mask comes off, however, he’s quite good in his brief moments as Queen Bavmorda’s subservient soldier.
Usually cast as tough guys, his other notable feature film appearances include CLASH OF THE TITANS, CONAN THE DESTROYER, RED SONJA, ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES, Jane Campion’s THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY, and along side Sean Connery in Irvin Kershner’s Bond flick NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN. Next to the airfield fight in RAIDERS, this is probably my favorite of his big brawls. It’s ugly and rough.
British TV viewers also knew Roach as genial Brian ‘Bomber’ Busbridge, a well-spoken West Country man in the hit series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. With Timothy Spall, Kevin Whately and Jimmy Nail, the series started in 1983, and also ran in 1986, 2002 and 2004. In addition to wrestling and playing movie bad guys, Roach ran a health club in Birmingham and was also a published author. He told his life story in his autobiography "If.” His follow-up book, “Pat Roach's Birmingham,” co-authored by Shirley Thompson, was published this year.
The eleven-year-old kid in me believes Roach will simply return in a couple years, like his many characters in the INDY movies, fit and ready to do battle. But I realize the movie has ended and we all must shamble out of the theater and go home. He’s made a lasting mark as a decent character actor, however, and will not easily be forgotten. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll pop on RAIDERS right now.
Roach was 67.
Our condolences to his family and friends.
"Moriarty" out.
