Clieg Whitsun was present at a nightclub on Alderaan and an associate of Bail Antilles. He later was wounded and informed General Skywalker on Aquilae that the New Galactic Empire was on its way with a giant space fortress.
Whitsun was well enough to accompany Luke Skywalker, Annikin Starkiller, Leia and the two droids to Gordon, and he helps them contact the resistance and hijack an Imperial starship.
While escaping the Empire's hunter destroyers above Yavin, the starship was critically damaged. Clieg was unable to make it to a life pod and died in the explosion after the rest of the crew evacuated.
The character would eventually evolve into Cliegg Lars. The name Whitsun would become the surname of Beru Whitesun Lars, whose husband Owen Lars was the son of Cliegg. In the first draft, Clieg is given the surname Oxus; he is otherwise identical. This name is later reused in a different context in the third draft.