Andrew Jack had played the part of Major Ematt in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi; and in the midst of a global pandemic, it looks like he wasn't able to survive a battle with COVID-19. He was 76-years-old.
According to fellow dialect coach Gabrielle Rogers, Jack had passed away two days after he was diagnosed with Coronavirus. It was said that Jack passed away peacefully and in the presence of his loved ones.
While Jack did do some acting , he was mostly a dialect coach when it came to his work. Behind the scenes, he would help Daisy Ridley and John Boyega when it came to their characters' accents. He had also provided the voice of Moloch in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
And though his role onscreen was only minimal, he does have this great scene in Star Wars: The Last Jedi where he walks in front of the troops before the clash with the First Order on Crait. Specifically it was Major Ematt's who made the footsteps that had one soldier taste it and go, "Salt!"
via: Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Greg Grunberg also had this to say about Jack's passing:
Besides working on Star Wars, Jack had credits as a dialect coach for numerous films, from Goldeneye to Avengers: Endgame. He was even said to have come up with the accents for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films. Before he died, he was also attached as a coach for Matt Reeves upcoming The Batman.
Jack did have himself a colorful career, and he had done some fantastic work behind the scenes. Good thing he's now immortalized in Star Wars was Major Ematt.
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