Simon Willamson was the puppeteer for Max Rebo in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. He was uncredited. In the 1980s Simon was one of the leading animatronic creature performers in the UK, working with Jim Henson and George Lucas on high budget films, including playing Max Rebo, as well as the Gamorrean Guard Jubnuk, who gets eaten by the rancor. He also played a Mon Calamari and supported Mike Quinn's performance as Nien Nunb by puppeteering the character's eye blinks.
Prior to that he played Ursol, The Chanter and a Garthim in Jim Henson's groundbreaking film, The Dark Crystal. He also puppeteered for Henson on three Muppet movies (The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island) and on Frank Oz's Little Shop of Horrors. He later played the Robin in the BBC's 1986 version of Alice in Wonderland, directed by Barry Letts. Less overtly physical roles followed in UK television series such as The Bill, Casualty, London's Burning, Hannay, Waiting for God and Campion.
He has acted extensively in the theatre and radio and he has narrated over 200 hours of audio books. He also writes and directs. His short film, The Right Hand Man, premiered at DragonCon in 2004, where it was a finalist, and has now become the basis for a proposed television series. He is also developing the comedy feature film which won both a screenplay prize at Screenplay Festival in Los Angeles, and a pitching prize at The Raindance Film Festival, adjudicated by luminaries such as Roger Corman, Steven Woolley, Lloyd Kaufmann and Shane Meadows.