Erik Bauersfeld, voice actor and Star Wars' Admiral Ackbar, dead at 93

Erik Bauersfeld, who turned three words from a minor acting role "It's a trap!" into one of the most beloved lines of the Star Warsseries, has died.

His manager, Derek Maki, says the performer died Sunday at his home in Berkeley, California, at the age of 93.

A prolific and respectedradio dramatist as well as a longtime fixture of Berkeley stationKPFA,Bauersfeldworkedin radio for much of his life. He adapted, performed and produced full-length productions of classic dramas for radio, including the work of Eugene O'Neill, Edgar Allen Poe, Guy De Maupassant, Franz Kafka and Fyodor Dostoyesvsky.

He stumbled into the Star Warsseries while working on a radio project at Lucasfilm.

Bauersfeld ended up voicing the roles of both the rebellion's Admiral Ackbar and Jabba the Hut's ghostly steward Bib Fortuna in 1983's Return of the Jedi.

Admiral Ackbar also appeared in The Force Awakens.

Despite limited screen time, the character with a large domed head and fish-like eyes was a definite Star Warsfan favourite. His line "It's a trap!" even became a popular meme.