American stage and screen actor William Hootkins has died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Hootkins died on Sunday (October 23rd) at St Johns Hospital in Santa Monica near his Californian home. He was 58.

You will remember William Hootkins as the actor who played Major Eatin in Raiders of the Lost Ark. But his first film role was in 1977, playing Jedi fighter Jek Porkins (Red Six) in George Lucas' original Star Wars: A New Hope.

You can read more on William Hootkins' career at Whatsonstage.com. My thoughts are with his family and friends.

Thanks to 'Pale Horse' from The Raven for letting me know.

Tony Garmon's fan film Indiana Jones and the Staff of Ra is finished and can be viewed on his official Staff of Ra website.

This fan film is set in 1926 when Abner Ravenwood and his student Indiana Jones go on an adventure to find the headpiece to the Staff of Ra.
So this is a fan made prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark in which we find out that Abner has died and left his daughter, Marion Ravenwood, behind in charge of a bar in Nepal.

Be sure to visit the Staff of Ra site where you can view the full 30 min. fan film as well as some extra's. You can also find a page dedicated to Indiana Jones and the Staff of Ra in our own Fan Films Theater.

Carnegie Science Center has a new exhibit entitled Action! An Adventure in Moviemaking. This exhibit about movies includes original props from several famous films like the actual Ark of the Covenant and Indiana Jones gear from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Other outfits on display are Kate Winslet's boarding suit from Titanic , Keira Knightly's dress from Pirates of the Caribbean, Tobey Maguire's superhero costume from Spider-Man , Russell Crowe's armor from Gladiator and much more.

Action! An Adventure in Moviemaking can be visited in Pittsburgh at the Museum of Science and Industry till April 2006. Additional information about this exhibit can be found at the Carnegie Science Center site.

The official Indiana Jones site has opened the doors to their Marshall College. At the new Marshall College you can follow classes about the world of Indiana Jones. The courses you can follow at this moment are:

• Characters:
  Biographies of Indiana Jones, Marion Ravenwood, Willie Scott and Short Round.
• Historical Figures:
  Biographies of Adolf Hitler and Nurhachi.
• Artifacts:
  The history of the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail and the Sankara stones.
• Locations:
  A look at Marion Ravenwood's The Raven bar.
• Events:
  A study of the Mexican Revolution.

Be sure to check out Marshall College as all these courses are very interesting. And I expect that we will get more courses in the near future so a big "thank you" for all the people who make IndianaJones.com.