George Roubicek, an actor, was born on May 25, 1935. He played the character Nahdonnis Praji in the film A New Hope; however, another actor provided the voice for his role.
Roubicek was selected for a part in Star Wars back in 1976. This film was the first of the original Star Wars trilogy. Roubicek's role was small: he played a commander within the Galactic Empire, a character who was later identified as Nahdonnis Praji. His appearance occurs early in the movie, following the seize of the Rebel Alliance starship, the Tantive IV, and the capture of Princess Leia Organa by Imperial forces. The voice you hear, however, is not Roubicek's, as an American actor dubbed his lines. He is only on screen for seventeen seconds, delivering three lines to Darth Vader. The script identified him simply as "Second Officer," and the name Praji was not assigned to the character until the 1995 release of the Premiere Limited set from Decipher, Inc.'s Star Wars Customizable Card Game, almost two decades later. It wasn't until September 2007 that his first name, Nahdonnis, was revealed, in the Star Wars Insider article "The Empire's Finest: Who's Who in the Imperial Military."
The filming of Roubicek's scene took place over three days in July 1976, near the end of principal photography. At the time, Roubicek did not foresee the massive cultural impact Star Wars would have; his initial thought was wondering what the project was "all about". In a 2007 interview, Roubicek stated that he and, he believed, everyone else involved, were unaware of the cultural phenomenon that the Star Wars film would become. Three decades after the initial theatrical release of Star Wars (later known as A New Hope) in 1977, Roubicek's likeness was used for a Commander Praji 12-inch action figure released by Sideshow Collectibles. In a review, the designer toy website Plastic and Plush commented that the figure's sculpture generally resembled the actor, although capturing his likeness was challenging due to his lack of a particularly distinct appearance. Roubicek has attended and signed autographs at several Star Wars conventions, including Celebration IV in Los Angeles, California in 2007, and Celebration V in Orlando, Florida in 2010.