02-04-2025
Remembering Patty Maloney: The ‘Star Wars Holiday Special' Actress Had A Four Decade Career
Los Angeles, CA - 1982: (L-R) Patty Maloney, Billy Barty appearing on the ABC tv special 'Cheryl ... More Ladd: Scenes from a Special'. (Photo by Chic Donchin /American Broadcasting Companies via Getty Images)
Actress Patty Maloney, who is remembered as Honk from Saturday morning comedy Far Out Space Nuts and as Lumpy from the Star Wars Holiday Special, died on March 31 following a series of strokes. She was 89.
Standing 3 feet 11 inches, Patty Maloney performed in carnivals and circuses in her youth, eventually segueing into a career as an actress beginning as a creature in the 1973 horror film Don't Be Afraid of the Dark.
In honor of Ms. Maloney, what follows are the highlights from a career spanning four decades.
1) Far Out Space Nuts, which was a Sid and Marty Krofft production, ran on CBS in the 1975-76 TV season. It starred Bob Denver (Gilligan's Island) and Chuck McCann. Maloney played Honk, their furry little alien friend who made honking sounds out of a horn instead of speaking.
LOS ANGELES - JUNE 20: "Far Out Space Nuts". A CBS television Saturday morning live action sitcom. ... More June 20, 1975. Pictured from left is Bob Denver (as Junior), Patty Maloney (as Honk, a furry alien), Chuck McCann (as Barney). (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
2) In 1977, Maloney appeared in five episodes of the late-night syndicated comedy soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman as Skipper. That same year she guest-starred in The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, Charlie's Angels and Rhoda.
3) In 1978, Maloney reteamed with Sid and Marty Krofft for the Saturday morning The Bay City Rollers Show, with the Bay City Rollers as the musicians. It ran for one season.
Bay City Rollers. (Photo by: Universal Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
4) Also in 1978, Maloney appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special, which featured Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill alongside Bea Arthur, Art Carney and Harvey Korman, and centered around Han Solo's Wookiee pal Chewbacca and his family back on his home planet of Kashyyyk.
LOS ANGELES: THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL. Carrie Fisher (as Princes Leia) and Anthony Daniels (as ... More C3PO) . Image dated August 23, 1978. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
5) In 1982, Maloney guest-starred in an episode of family drama Little House on the Prairie as Alice Bates opposite Billy Barty as her husband Lou. That same year, the pair appeared together in the musical hour, Cheryl Ladd: Scenes from a Special.
Los Angeles, CA - 1982: (L-R) Patty Maloney, Billy Barty appearing on the ABC tv special 'Cheryl ... More Ladd: Scenes from a Special'. (Photo by Chic Donchin /American Broadcasting Companies via Getty Images)
6) Maloney racked up credits as a voice actor, including Darla in the animated version of The Little Rascals from 1982-83, Dumbo's Circus from 1985-86, and the TV movie Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School in 1988.
7) Maloney's later guest appearances on television included episodes of Married With Children, Legend, and Nash Bridges. Her final guest spot was in the sitcom My Name is Earl in 2005.
Survivors include her brother Dave, nieces Jennifer and Laura, and her brother-in-law, Vic.
