Toby Philpott Toby Philpott is an best known for his work in during the 1980s in such films as " " and " " . Born into a family of , Philpott dropped out of school and traveled the world during the 1960s , in various locations and surviving off money he earned from his work as a , which included , , , , and . He began his film career after personally selected Philpott to work on the groundbreaking 1982 " The Dark Crystal " , in which he worked side - by - side with Henson . The next year , Philpott was approached to serve as one of the puppeteers controlling Jabba Desilijic Tiure in " Return of the Jedi " . Philpott controlled the left arm , head , tongue , and body of the giant Hutt puppet . Philpott would lend his skills to other such movies as " " ( 1984 ) , " " ( 1986 ) , " " ( 1986 ) and " " ( 1988 ) before leaving the film industry . He currently works as a at the Cardiff Central Library in , . Reflecting upon his movie career , Philpott describes himself as a " street juggler that got lucky . " Biography . Early life . Toby Philpott was born February 14 , 1946 in , into a family of and . His father , , also known as " Pantopuck the Puppet Man , " was a well - known who would go on to become a and teacher on the subject of . Toby ' s mother , Sheila Moriarty , was a and who taught and . At an early age , Toby Philpott discovered an interest in the performing arts and a particular love for . He also developed an interest in puppetry in part by reading a his father kept about using puppets throughout the of the 1930s . Nevertheless , his parents did not encourage him to pursue a career in . In the 1960s , Philpott became swept up in the that rose with the end of the . Philpott had a rebellious attitude when it came to such matters as and . Philpott dropped out of and began to travel the world , living what he would later describe as a " " and " " lifestyle . By his late teens , he was splitting his time between jobs and various odd jobs at ; he began the latter working an for one season at a fair in . By 1967 , at age 21 , he was living mostly on other people ' s floors and sofas in in the ; with no permanent residence , Philpott survived by for meals and money on the streets . Discovering the performing arts . Throughout the late - 1960s , he worked counter jobs at several in , including Bunjies and , where he met many musicians and other performers and formed what he described as some of " my most treasured memories . " He also continued working in occasional archeological digs , including activities in 1968 in the wells of , a historic ruin in , . In 1970 , he lived in , , where he sold in the streets and in an on the with a woman named Nelly Gareau . He spent two years visiting various locations in the and with Gareau . Philpott returned to London in 1972 and a Le Grand Magic Circus show on at the famed arts venue . Philpott was invited onto the stage during the show , and his childhood interest for the performing arts was reignited . Philpott tried to join Le Grand Magic Circus in Paris and participated in one show , but was not picked up for continued employment . He returned to the determined to perform for a living and , while outside London ' s , was discovered by John and Crissie Trigger , who ran a traveling entertainment company called The Raree Show . Traveling street performer . Philpott spent the next several years traveling and performing in both Raree and solo gigs , in such places as , , , Mexico , and the United States . His acts included juggling , magic , , , , , , and in such venues as schools , , , and . He also ran theatre workshops for and learned how to play various and apply . Philpott spent the mid - 1970s living in the London of Chris Löfvén and Lyne Helms , who at the time were working on the 1976 " " . He continued traveling all over as a , where he used hand - made and performed self - invented tricks . He performed in opening acts at such venues as the in London ' s . Philpott also performed in various groups , including the Red Buddha Theatre with musician , and Incubus with Richard LeParmentier , who would go on to play Admiral Motti in " " . He also learned and other at the music venue and cultural center in . Philpott said he particularly enjoyed seeing " how things were done . " Start of animatronics career . The death of Toby Philpott ' s father in 1978 moved Philpott to get away from solo performing and enter a more collaborative medium . Philpott ' s first foray into motion pictures was when he and other students in a class were selected to play in the 1981 film , " " . He was dropped from the film when the project changed , but the experience opened Philpott to the possibility of entering into a new entertainment medium . That year his mime teacher and movement coach , Desmond Jones , informed him about an advertisement for acrobats , mimes , and for " " , a 1982 directed by and Frank Oz , the puppeteer behind Yoda in 1980 ' s " " . " The Dark Crystal " included groundbreaking , the use of and in mechanized puppets to make them appear alive . The ad called for a variety of performer types because it was unknown what kind of physical abilities and stamina would be necessary for this relatively new art form . Philpott saw the film as a chance to apply his performing arts skills into a " new and exciting field " and , since the audition involved a workshop , he felt he could learn something from the experience even if he did not get a job . He answered the call and was selected from about 200 letter applications . Philpott participated in the initial audition workshop , which provided instruction on basic puppetry skills and techniques , and was among the 50 who were called back for additional workshops , where the pool of finalists was narrowed down to 20 . Philpott described the final round of workshops as extremely competitive , but he was among the final ten chosen to work on the film . Henson , whom Philpott described as " the nicest millionaire I ever met , " had a hands - on role in the selection process . Philpott was supposed to be among four that would start work immediately , but after suffering back problems due to the amount of running in the workshops , Philpott had to remain with the second team of six who worked on the film during the of 1982 . Prior to filming , Philpott received lessons in and was provided assorted types of puppets to experiment with . " The Dark Crystal " . Development work took place at , which at the time was located in a former across the street from Henson ' s house on Downshire Hill in , London . Toby Philpott began training in bodywork and puppeteering , and worked with the early incarnations of the character puppets , which began to become fine - tuned around the specific puppeteers . Each of the main puppet performers was allocated into crews to work the eyes , eyebrows , and arms of specific puppets . Jim Henson personally chose Philpott and fellow puppeteer Robbie Barnett to work in his support crew , which Philpott attributed to a combination of talent and temperament , since each crew would be working very close together . Philpott often played the right arm of the characters Henson animated . Filming took place at . Although most of the puppet crews were able to do additional rehearsals while Henson worked the other various aspects of film production , Philpott and Barnett were often given just a quick walk - through before the actual performance due to Henson ' s busy work schedule . Philpott was often literally pressed up against Henson as the two operated opposite arms within a puppet . The teams concentrated their efforts through the puppet to create a coherent set of gestures and an individual performance and personality , which involved a great deal of experimentation , discussion , and feedback through video playback among the team . Philpott said whenever he made a mistake due to lack of expressiveness or timing in his gestures , Henson remained very patient and never raised his voice or became angry . The main character Philpott played in " The Dark Crystal " was urTih the Alchemist , one of the ; Philpott later said urTih was his favorite of all the characters he puppeteered . But he also played various other in the film , including the Mystics , the Garthims , Pod People , and other creatures . Philpott said the puppet designs alone gave the creatures a great deal of character , which helped him mentally prepare for the roles . He found an inner peace and deep patience while wearing the tall , luminescent Mystic suits ; similarly , the suits for the hulking - like Garthims made Philpott and the other actors feel " wired up and raring to go . " Philpott and the other puppeteers depended on direct , honest feedback from each other and the filmmakers , since it was difficult to know the impression they made while wearing the suits . Philpott ' s most disappointing moment during " The Dark Crystal " came during the first day of shooting , when he played a Mystic who was featured in the foreground of a scene in the Mystic Valley . The costume ' s jaw had recently been readjusted , and its mouth was stuck hanging open in an unflattering way . However , none of the crew notified Philpott , and he was unhappy with how it came out in the final movie . Nevertheless , Philpott said the puppeteers and filmmakers were a " very happy and engaged crew , " and because the techniques and methods were so new during " The Dark Crystal " , he enjoyed a level of hands - on involvement that would not be matched in his future movies . " Return of the Jedi " . While working on " The Dark Crystal " at the Creature Shop , rumors began to circulate that alien characters for " " were being developed at that same studio , and several of the puppeteers began looking for ways to get a job on the film . David Barclay , who had been a puppet builder for " The Dark Crystal " , was chosen as one of the operators of the massive Jabba the Hutt puppet , and asked for Toby Philpott to be hired as his partner . Philpott , who was unaware of Barclay ' s politicking on his behalf , was surprised by the sudden job offer and eagerly accepted it . Barclay was the chief Jabba puppeteer who planned all the movements and guided all the other performers ; Philpott controlled Jabba ' s left arm , with which he controlled many of Jabba ' s more active motions , including eating Klatooine paddy frogs , smoking the Hookah pipe , and physically assaulting Bib Fortuna and C - 3PO . Philpott also used his right hand to control Jabba ' s tongue and animate his head , and controlled the body by swiveling his seat with his legs braces . Cable controls allowed Philpott to swivel the head and snarl Jabba ' s Mouth . The rest of the puppet team included Barclay on the right arm and mouth ; Mike Edmonds on the tail ; and John Coppinger , who controlled the eyes via and gave the others feedback based on what he saw from the outside . Philpott would later describe sitting inside the Jabba puppet with Barclay as being " like a two - man submarine " because it was very hot , cramped , and uncomfortable . A monitor inside the puppet shows a general shot of Jabba that helped the puppeteers operate , although they could not tell where the frame of the shot was from the image ; the team depended on feedback amongst themselves , and their training under Jim Henson gave them experience in coordinating to create a single creature . Philpott and Barclay would go inside the puppet early in the day and remain there for almost the entire nine - and - one - half hours of filming each day , so much so that other cast and crew members did not know who they were during breaks . The two would only occasionally leave the suit to directly discuss Jabba - related business , but preferred to remain in character within the suit . Philpott and Barclay employed an approach by Jim Henson in which they took direction while in character ; director Richard Marquand agreed to give Jabba direction as if the character was the actor , and they talked back to the director as if the puppet itself were a live performer . It took about three weeks to film the Jabba ' s Palace scenes , and an additional week to film the Sail Barge scenes ; Philpott and the puppeteers said they experienced few problems operating Jabba due to the effective design work of Phil Tippett , Stuart Freeborn , and John Coppinger . Philpott ' s previous experience with " The Dark Crystal " helped prepare Philpott for the role of Jabba , although as a result , he later said he wasn ' t as " overawed " by the experience as he might have been . Nevertheless , he described the experience as " great fun " and said he enjoyed being the center of attention among the many other puppets and live actors in Jabba ' s Palace . During the scene when a captured Princess Leia Organa is presented to Jabba after freeing Han Solo from the carbonite , Marquand told Philpott to try to get Jabba to really lick the side of Carrie Fisher ' s face in order to create a genuine disgusted reaction . Philpott resisted at first since the tongue , which was covered in , was difficult to control , but Marquand eventually convinced him to do it . During the scene in which he made the attempt , Philpott accidentally stuck the tongue right into Fisher ' s ear , which caused a small commotion on the set , although Philpott was unaware of what he did from within the Jabba costume until he later took a break from filming . The brief scene in which Jabba eats the frogs took several takes to get correctly since it was difficult for Philpott to reach Jabba ' s mouth with the left arm ; the filmmakers originally tried to use an actual but it kept escaping and hopping around the set . The final scene Philpott filmed was the death of Jabba the Hutt ; he and the other puppeteers " trashed around and went crazy " and Philpott said once Carrie Fisher realized she couldn ' t hurt the performers inside Jabba , " she really went for it . " Philpott described actor Harrison Ford as " rueful , and funny as he appeared ; " actress Carrie Fisher as mischievous on the set and petulant due to being stuck in a long contract ; and actor Mark Hamill was " a bit insecure " and not nearly as boyish as he seemed on - screen . Like most bit players in the original " Star Wars " trilogy , Philpott was bought out of his contract in 1983 , the year " Return of the Jedi " was released , and thus receives no future royalties for his participation in the film . " Labyrinth " . Toby Philpott served as president of the from 1982 to 1983 , and also did animatronic work for the 1984 film , " " . By 1985 , Philpott was out of work and in desperate need of money while living in , the capital of . On an impulse , he called to inquire about work . Although he had already missed the audition for the new movie Jim Henson was developing , " " , Philpott was immediately called in for a job . Philpott operated several characters , including a puppet that sat at the foot of the throne of Jareth the Goblin King , who was played by . He also played one of the Fireys , the wild goblins that live in the and have detachable body parts that come apart ; Philpott , who was credited as playing " Firey No . 1 , " controlled the various body parts along with puppeteers and , once again , David Barclay . He also controlled the eyes of the Junk Lady character ( played by performer ) and was one of the many sets of hands among the Helping Hands , hand - shaped goblins that protruded from the walls of Jareth ' s castle and acted with the other hands to create talking face - formations . Philpott said his fondest memory during the production of " Labyrinth " was taking his six - year - old son , Keili , on a tour of the set of the Goblin Village . For the most part , however , Philpott did not enjoy his time working on " Labyrinth " due to a injury he suffered while playing in prior to getting the job . The strain puppeteering places on the back left Philpott in agony while working on the set , and he made several unsuccessful attempts to heal himself through visits to and . His back problem was finally solved when a friend recommended a clinic on in the in London . The therapy proved so effective , Philpott was able to walk up a in to organize a juggling convention after filming on " Labyrinth " wrapped . " Little Shop of Horrors " . Toby Philpott was called to work on the 1986 Frank Oz film , " " , where he was among a team of people who operated the animatronic plant that , in the film , feeds on human blood . The limbs were operated by and Philpott controlled the right - hand leaf of the plant , which he described as " quite heavy work . " Philpott was also an understudy to the puppeteers who operated the plant ' s lips , but he was never asked to step in for that duty . The plant increased in size throughout the movie and , at its largest incarnation , Philpott controlled one of the tentacles . However , that sequence was cut from the theatrical release when audiences responded negatively to the ending , in which the plant ate all the major characters and destroyed the city . The filmmakers created a new , more upbeat ending , and Philpott was out of town and unavailable for the plant ' s new scenes . Leaving the film industry . Toby Philpott auditioned before , the son of Jim Henson , for a part in " " , the 1985 semi - to the 1939 classic , " " . Philpott was on the short list for the film but , for reasons unknown to him and to his great disappointment , was not offered the job . Philpott ' s film career for the most part ended in the late - 1980s , which he attributed to a number of reasons , including changes in the film industry that were making animatronics more and more obsolete , and decision not to give to films , which drove foreign film productions away from the United Kingdom . He also felt the death of Jim Henson in 1990 resulted in a younger staff at the Jim Henson Company , which severed the ties of Philpott and other long - standing puppeteers . Philpott , who went into what he called " a bit of a downward spiral " during this point of his life , was working in a circus school and holding juggling workshops when he met a group of people who eventually started their own traveling circus company in 1986 , called the . Philpott left the school to go on the road with NoFit , at first working as part of the crew , and he found that erecting and disassembling the tent drew crowds by itself . He eventually became a stage manager and also performed with the circus , traveling with them for several tours throughout the United Kingdom until the mid - 1990s . " Who Framed Roger Rabbit " . Toby Philpott made a brief return to the movies to participate in the 1988 film , " " , a comedy that combined . David Barclay was tasked with putting together a team of puppeteers to work on the movie and he contacted Philpott , who was living atop of a mountain in Spain at the time . Philpott came on as one of the six puppeteers , who served as a " troubleshooting team " that covered simple puppet duties with live - action objects and other " stuff that the crew couldn ' t manage , or didn ' t want to deal with . " The other puppeteers on the team were Barclay , Ian Tregonning , Christopher Leith , Geoff Felix , and Mike Quinn , who played Nien Nunb and Ree - Yees and controlled the Sy Snootles and Ghoel puppets in " Return of the Jedi " . Among Philpott ' s and the puppet crew ' s duties were using to move objects handled by the characters , such as the various items scuffled around by an octopus or the gun aimed at actor by one of the evil characters . Other duties were as simple as wobbling boxes or other surfaces the cartoon characters stood on . During a scene in which Roger Rabbit accidentally flushes himself down a toilet , Philpott spent a full afternoon under the fake toilet , where he used an invisible string to pull the toilet flusher and spun around to make water come up from the bowl . Barclay said the experience was enjoyable , but he felt the - oriented crew did not take the puppeteers very seriously . He sensed that his animatronic art form was dying and knew he would probably never work in movies again . Philpott did appear , however , as a juggler in the background of the 1989 " " , which starred , , and . Later life . In August 1997 , Toby Philpott participated in a public arts performance called " The X - Factor : Close Encounters of a Different Kind " , which involved various performances scattered throughout a small town outside Cardiff . Philpott played Norman Nesbitt , a man who believes he has been contacted by . He was placed in a room full of maps , cardboard spaceships , and notebooks filled with his own scribblings . Other characters included his girlfriend , who believed his correspondence with aliens was just an excuse for breaking up with her , and the " Men in White Coats , " who constantly tried to take Norman Nesbitt away but were never successful . Philpott was not paid for the one - day performance , which was completely improvised . In December 1997 , after more than 30 years of self - employment , Toby Philpott took a job at Cardiff Central Library as a , where he provides and other support ; Philpott described the job as a logical move at that stage in his life and said he realized it would be necessary to stay employed in the next century . He is a member of the board of the NoFit State Circus ( although he no longer travels with them ) and is a long - term student at the Maybe Logic Academy , an online study group founded by writer . Philpott remains well known for his animatronics work , particularly on " Return of the Jedi " , and attends occasional to meet fans and sign autographs , including Celebration Europe in 2007 . Philpott said he had no idea how large the " Star Wars " fanbase was until he started using the in 1999 . Reflecting upon his career in the movies years later , Toby Philpott would describe himself as " a street juggler that got lucky . " Philpott has said he has considered writing a book about his life and opinions . In November 2007 , Philpott wrote a 50 , 000 - word novel in one month , as part of the project . The book , " Foolproof " , is about a group of nomadic young people living in modern Spain . Following the 1997 Star Wars Special Edition theatrical re - release of " " , Philpott said he did not like the new animated Jabba the Hutt featured in a previously - cut scene and , although he was interested in the future possibilities brought about by , he lamented the increased use of computer animations rather than animatronics and real performers . Philpott did not dismiss CGI altogether , especially when it appears seamless and convincing as he believed it did in Steven Spielberg ' s 1993 film , " " . However , he felt puppetry and animatronics often lent a more convincing look to the movies than the " slick hyper - reality " of some computer effects , and feels puppeteers have the unique ability to improvise and interact with the performers , unlike computer - generated images . Philpott would later admit , however , that the animated Jabbas that appeared in the 2004 re - release of " Return of the Jedi " and the 1999 prequel " " were significant improvements over the special edition incarnation . Toby Philpott lives with his long - time girlfriend , Julie , and has a son named Keili and a daughter named Yo , who gave birth to his granddaughter , Matilda . Philpott ' s favorite band is ; his favorite books are " " , " " , " " , " " , and " " ; and his favorite writers are , , , , and .