Eddie Byrne (January 31, 1911–August 21, 1981) was an Irish actor who portrayed General Willard in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Eddie Byrne was born in Dublin on January 31st, 1911. He began acting in the late 1940s, beginning with mostly cameo appearances in 1947 in Brian Desmond Hurst's Hungry Hill (uncredited), Frank Launder's Captain Boycott, with Stewart Granger, and Carol Reed's Odd Man Out, with James Mason. In this first year of work, he made his first role as a seaman - a strange premonition, considering his Star Wars role as a Naval officer.