Andrew Bruce Boa (10 July 1930 – 17 April 2004) was a Canadian actor, who found success playing the token American in British films and television, usually playing military types. Boa's most recognizable film role is in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) as General Carlist Rieekan. On television, his most notable role is probably as the brash, plain-speaking American guest, Mr. Harry Hamilton, in the Fawlty Towers episode "Waldorf Salad".

Early life

Bruce Boa was born on 10 July 1930 in Port Stanley, Ontario, the second of three children of Ila (née Phinn) and Andrew Boa, a clergyman. His older sister was Jungian analyst and author Marion Woodman, and his younger brother was Fraser Boa, also a Jungian analyst, who died in 1992. Boa attended the University of Western Ontario, graduating in 1952 with a degree in theology, then spent a brief period playing professional football for the Calgary Stampeders in 1952. After travelling through Central America and Europe, he began his acting career in England in 1956 and settled there permanently in the 1960s. In a 1959 interview, when he was aged 29, he said he had also written poetry, a novel and film scripts, and hoped to make a living combining writing and acting.

Career

Boa's film credits include Man in the Middle (1964), The Adding Machine (1969), Who? (1973), The Cherry Picker (1974), The Omen (1976), Silver Bears, Superman, Carry On Emmannuelle (1978), A Touch of the Sun, The London Connection, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (1979), Silver Dream Racer (1980), Ragtime (1981), Octopussy (1983), Return to Oz (1985), and Screamers (1995). He also played the Marine colonel in Full Metal Jacket (1987) who chastises Matthew Modine's character over having a peace pin on his lapel while having "Born To Kill" written on his combat helmet. On television, he appeared in Thriller (1975), in 1977 Come Back, Little Sheba, an episode of Laurence Olivier Presents, opposite Laurence Olivier and Joanne Woodward. Other television credits include: Fawlty Towers, The Avengers, Out of the Unknown, The Champions, The Troubleshooters, The Saint, Ace of Wands, Special Branch, The Onedin Line, Z-Cars, The New Avengers, The Professionals, The Omega Factor, Dempsey & Makepeace, Astronauts, Hart to Hart, Remington Steele, Howards' Way, the 1979 miniseries A Man Called Intrepid, the 1988 television film The Bourne Identity, Tales of the Unexpected, As Time Goes By, Road to Avonlea, Kavanagh QC, Bulman and Warship.

Death

Boa died from cancer on 17 April 2004 in Surrey, England.

Filmography

Film

Television