Goodbye Peter Jason (February 20, 2025)

[Bandit LOAF]

There's sad news today: the Wing Commander universe has lost another commander. We've learned that prolific character actor Peter Jason has passed away. Wing Commander fans best know him as Daniel (Eugene) Wilford, a Terran Confederation Captain and a Border Worlds Vice Admiral. Jason's Wilford first appeared in Wing Commander IV where he played the Border Worlds admiral giving orders to Colonel Blair and the Intrepid. Much like Ricardo Montalbán in Star Trek II, Jason never actually shared a set with the rest of the cast: his orders arrived via viewscreen. In Wing Commander Prophecy, Jason stepped in following Jason Bernard's untimely passing and played the Wilford character as the captain of the Confederation's new Midway megacarrier. There he worked more directly with the cast, giving briefings and either praising or chewing out the player based on their gameplay.





To call Mr. Jason in-demand would be an understatement; he was credited in more than 180 roles during his 57 year career. He frequently worked with legendary genre director John Carpenter in films like Prince of Darkness and They Live. His tremendous body of work included him in everything from romcoms to alien invasions. Some of his more familiar films included Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Alien Nation, Mortal Kombat, Congo and a personal favorite, Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land. His television work included everything from Roseanne to Quantum Leap, with a particularly notable recurring role on Deadwood. He also lent his talent to other video games including Fallout 2 and the Gears of War franchise.





Wing Commander fans were always happy to follow Wilford and his Midway into battle; today, we offer our sincere condolences to Mr. Jason's family and friends.

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Original update published on February 20, 2025

 

[Dragon1]

This is devastating news. I met Mr. Jason and his wife at the Orpheum theater during one of John Carpenter's concerts in 2017. I literally ambushed him in the line at the bar to tell him thanks for all his incredible work. I said I was a life long fan, and that I appreciated everything he's done, from "Karate Kid to Wing Commander." He chuckled, saying "Wing Commander! I didn't think anybody remembered that!" We spent the next 20 minutes chatting! When I finally got up to leave he made a point of calling me by name, which I had only mentioned once in the beginning of the conversation. He was truly one of the best character actors in Hollywood, and I will miss him immensely.

 

[kingmakeress]

RIP Peter Jason