The
Art of the Con
Exploring the Motor City Comic Con Was An Unexpected
Adventure
by Dave Phillips
6/6/99
Man Behind the Mask...Or Behind the Scam?
Wandering throughout the various booths at the convention, one that attracted our eye was the nice setup with a great range of autographed photographs from "Bob-A-Lou Collectibles, Inc." based in Scranton, PA. Stopping in, we took a look at a full collection of photos and signatures from the cast of Star Wars ($2,000), and struck up a conversation with the owners, Bob Catalano and Lou Taroli. They regaled us with tales of meeting celebrities, showed us photos of themselves with the various celebs whose autographed photos hung on the walls of their booth, and then rapidly moved into an obvious sore spot for them...a rather unassuming looking man named Hal Wamsley.
Taking a quick look over in the direction they were pointing, I saw that Mr. Wamsley was along the back wall of the convention hall along with several other "Men Behind the Masks" tour participants...right next to Mercedes N'Goh (Jabba's dancer Rystall from the ROTJ:SE)...with a banner promoting himself as "The Jawa That Shot R2D2!" He had the usual line of people in front of him (about 10 or so), and seemed to be a happy enough guy as he smiled while talking and signing various items for fans that approached him. Not really seeing what the problem might be, I cocked my eyebrow and asked, "Okay...what's the story?"
"Simple," said one of the booth owners. "The guy's a total fake!"
We were then given a spot history lesson on Star Wars filming, as we learned that Kenny Baker (also in attendance at the convention...but more on that later) had gotten a job for his friend Jack Purvis as "Head Jawa" during principal location filming in Tunisia. According to the two booth proprietors, the only persons portraying Jawas in the original film are Jack Purvis, as well as the daughter of producer Gary Kurtz and children from the local village in Tunisia.
"So...where does this Hal Wamsley guy fit in," I asked.
"Exactly," they said. "He doesn't...I mean, LOOK at him!". True enough statement that is...I mean, Kenny Baker, even if he wasn't as well known and popular as he is, at least looks like someone who could fit inside the R2D2 suit. Peter Mayhew is a large, lumbering man who easily fits the concept of Chewbacca's inner-being. I was reminded of Leia's line in A New Hope "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" when I saw Mr. Wamsley standing up for the first time...except in this case, it would've been "Aren't you a little big for a Jawa?"
Not content to hear just one version of the story, I began to ask around the convention to get some other thoughts on the topic. I was treated to a range of conflicting stories, including one that had Kenny Baker "going off" on Mr. Wamsley at a previous show, and another from a seriously disgruntled vendor who had thrown away merchandise after having had Mr. Wamsley sign it since it was, quote, "now utterly worthless". Still yet another came from a person who claimed to grow up in the same neighborhood and also to have attended the same schools as Mr. Wamsley, and his comment was simple - "I can't imagine that he would've FORGOT to mention the fact that he was in Star Wars all throughout our childhood!"
One of our fellow partners in crime, Mark Minicuci, webmaster for the popular Collectibles site www.yakface.com was along with us during the convention, and his thoughts echoed those of the Bob-A-Lou Collectibles proprietors - Wamsley's a sham.
Utterly amazed by all of this, I kept coming back to the same question - if everyone "knows" that he's a fake, then what's he doing on the "Men Behind The Masks" tour? How does he even get invited to conventions? Why hasn't someone thrown him out on his ear by now? Apparently, it's a topic that's not going to be resolved any time soon, either...it's sort of a no-win situation for all involved parties it appears.
Wanting to know the entire story, I decided that the best course of action was to have a little sit-down chat with Mr. Wamsley myself, and get his side of the story. I walked up, introduced myself, told him that I fully intended to write an article on the matter for Echo Station (which, I'm pleased to say, he said he knew about and visited...of course, that always pleases me, no matter who it is), and that I wanted to get his version of events before running anything. He thanked me, and I sat down and asked him about what went on.
Mr. Wamsley's version of events is as follows:
His mother was an Avon lady in 1976 (Hal was 15 at the time), and he accompanied her on a delivery to a woman's house. This woman turned out to be a casting director for "an upcoming Sci-Fi B movie", and said "I could use someone your son's size...would he be interested in being in a movie?" He of course jumped at the chance, and his mother allowed him the opportunity. Jack Purvis was indeed the Head Jawa...for principal shooting in Tunisia. Hal however was the Head Jawa for Second Unit shooting in Death Valley, California. At age 15, he was "small for his size" at 4 feet, 8 inches tall and "didn't hit [his] growth spurt until after age 17". He is well aware of the controversy surrounding his identity, and has been trying to get some form of official recognition or piece of evidence from LucasFilm to solve the matter for quite some time now.
"It was 23 years ago after all," said Hal. "They don't still have the records from the extras laying around any more. And over those 23 years, things have gotten lost in moves, etc., so I can't just pull out a paystub or anything like that. It was a long time ago."
When asked about the Jack Purvis question, his reply was straightforward - "I'm not trying to take anything away from Jack Purvis at all. I'd just like the little bit of recognition I deserve for the small part I played in helping make Star Wars."
He's currently working on a project titled "Late Night Horror Show", and has previously worked on films titled "Valley of the Vampires" and "Mind Control Madness"...a film which was recently re-released entitled as "Cyber Sex Kittens"...a fact which causes Hal to sigh heavily and reveal "I always knew that doing that film was going to come back and bite me in the butt...but it was my first leading role!"
Hopping into the all-knowing, all-seeing Internet movie resource - the Internet Movie Database at www.imdb.com ...a few things surfaced that were interesting. Doing a search on the movies he mentioned results in "Sorry there were no matches for the title, years 1890 to 2005"...rather odd since IMDB usually has up to date information on even the worst bad B flicks that are out there. Doing a search on "Hal Wamsley" results in a finding of a filmography containing only one reference:
"1.Star Wars (1977) (uncredited) .... Dathcha"
I'm assuming that Dathcha was the "name" of the Jawa he is to have portrayed. However, it also stipulates that he was born in 1971, which would make him all of five years old in 1976, not 15 as he'd explained in our discussion...though I'll be the first one to say the he looks more like the 38 years old he says he is than the 28 years old he would be were he born in 1971. I'll assume that there's incorrect information in IMDB on that notation. I did finally track down "Mind Control Madness"...and it really has been renamed "Cybersex Kittens"...through a search engine. It's released by a company named "Cranium Candy"...and having read the promotional material on their website for it, I can only imagine what was going through Hal's mind as they were shooting this film. It's a "B" movie at best.
What's my take on the whole matter? All said and done, I feel badly for the fans that had him sign things...and there were unfortunately a good number of them. Prized saved Jawa action figures, posters that had been signed by fully authenticated cast members and crew...all now cast under a cloud of uncertainty and worthlessness because of this single person. I took note of the fact that he didn't explain to people waiting in line that he was a bit-player (at best) in the second unit who had nothing to do with the principal photography for the movie, and the name Jack Purvis only came out of his mouth upon direct questioning by myself or members of the media who were also tipped off to the situation. It would seem to me that both the Men Behind the Masks tour organizers and management for future Sci-Fi conventions should take a good, long, hard look at Mr. Wamsley before allowing him to continue in the tour rotation and possibly causing harm to unknowing fans. If his claims are true, and his past work really what he says it is, then I call on someone...ANYONE...to step forward with any form of proof that can authenticate this man's claims and lay these ugly stories to rest. If such proof is not to be forthcoming, then I ask Mr. Wamsley, out of decency, goodness, and an interest in protecting Star Wars fans everywhere, to step down from the tour gracefully until such a time comes that such proof is available.
Of course, with the line of people that were there getting his autograph for $15 to $20 apiece, something tells me he'll be sitting there signing away merrily at their next tour stop all the same.
If you'd like further information on this matter, please feel free to contact Bob Catalano and Lou Taroli from Bob-A-Lou Collectibles. They were all too happy to discuss the matter with us at length, and welcomed the opportunity to inform more fans on the issues surrounding this matter. They can be reached at bobalouinc@aol.com - Mr. Wamsley's email address is withheld by request.