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Alfie Curtis, who played Dr Evazan in Star Wars: A New Hope, has died at the age of 87.

The London-born actor had also appeared in the 1980 film The Elephant Man and the 80s UK TV series Cribb.

His Star Wars character famously threatened Luke Skywalker at Mos Eisley Cantina in the first of the original trilogy in 1977, telling him: "I have the death sentence on 12 systems".

Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, tweeted his tribute to Alfie Curtis.

He called him a "funny, kind" man who helped provide "one of the most memorable [scenes] I've ever been a part of".

"Alfie Curtis made the #Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina scene (one of the most memorable I've ever been a part of) even MORE memorable. As horrific as he was on-camera, off-camera he was funny, kind & a real gentleman," he wrote.

"Thanks Alf- you'll be missed. #RIP."

The news broke on the Comic Book Star Wars website on Tuesday evening and the cause of death has not yet been revealed.

The character of Dr Evazan did pop up briefly in the 2016 Star Wars film Rogue One, but the younger version of the character was played by Michael Smiley.