Dreis, Garven (Red Leader)

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Species:
  Human

• Gender:
  Male

• Weapon:
  Blaster pistol

• Vehicle:
  X-wing starfighter

• Affiliation:
  Rebel Alliance

• 

From the Movies

A capable and well-respected pilot, Red Leader referred to the squadron under his command as "Red Boys," showing an almost fatherly role of command. Red Leader, who was known to some as Dave, had a chance at destroying the Death Star during the Battle of Yavin. His shots, unfortunately, missed the critical thermal exhaust port, just impacting on the surface. He was killed shortly thereafter when his fighter was destroyed by Darth Vader.

From the Expanded Universe

A man of several nicknames, including Dave and Boss, Garven Dreis was one of the few "veterans" the Alliance could boast in its early days. He served the Dantooine base prior to its evacuation and transfer to Yavin. After his death, the protection of Alliance High Command fell largely to Commander Narra and his famed Renegade Flight.

Behind the Scenes

In A New Hope, Red Leader was played by actor Drewe Henley, who is misidentified in the credits as "Drewe Hemley." The original script for A New Hope suggests that Red Leader met Anakin Skywalker, though this line was cut from the Special Edition release:

Pilot Leader: I met your father once when I was just a boy, he was a great pilot. You'll do all right. If you've got half of your father's skill, you'll do better than all right.

Filming of the cockpit scenes took place on one of Britain's hottest days in 400 years. The production crew only built a single X-wing interior and it served as the cockpit of all the X-wing pilots seen in the film. The astromech droid head seen behind the cockpit was interchangeable. Red Leader's X-wing had a Red R5 unit assigned to it.

Due to the heat, which was compounded by the use of bright lights on the set, the make-up on the actors had a tendency to run. To keep this from showing up on screen, the production crew replaced the clear prop visors of the Rebel helmets with orange ones.