Patty Maloney, the 3-foot-11 actress who played the alien Honk on the Sid & Marty Krofft family show Far Out Space Nuts and Chewbacca’s son, Lumpy, on the long-lamented Star Wars Holiday Special, has died. She was 89.

Patricia Anne Maloney was a Little Person actress. Therefore, many of her roles were in sci-fi shows and movies, often under so much makeup and costumes that you couldn’t see her at all. She was an actress, a puppeteer, and a voice actress. Maloney began working in carnivals and circuses. She was born March 17, 1936 in Perkinsville, New York. She died March 31, 2025, in Winter Park, Florida.

Geek Cred

In the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), she played Chewbacca’s son, Lumpy. In the live-action Saturday morning Sid and Maety Krofft show Far Out Space Nuts, starring Bob Denver and Chuck McCann, she played the astronauts’ alien friend Honk, who could not speak and had to communicate through gestures and a horn on top of its head. This permitted her to use her talents as a mime.

It’s been half a century since Far Out Space Nuts debuted on television. Just in case you need to refresh your memory, we’ve got a playlist of episodes watch the video below.

Multiple Franchises

Patty Maloney was one of the few actors to appear in both Star Trek and Star Wars. She had a guest role in the Star Trek: Voyager episode “The Thaw.” In the Star Wars Holiday Special she was a juvenile Wookiee. She played two different robots in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. She also appeared in The Addams Family franchise. In the Addams Family (1991) Mahoney played Lois Addams

In Ernest Saces Christmas (1988), she played one of Santa’s elves. Maloney was in A. J.’s Time Travelers. She not only played Tina, the robotic waitress on Buck Rogers, the one Twiki developed a crush on, but in one or two episodes, she substituted for Felix Silla as Twiki. On the Disney Channel 1980s children’s show Dumbo’s Circus, Maloney performed the role of Dink the Koala. She was also the puppeteer for the Crypt Keeper in Tales from the Crypt.

Maloney’s  brother, Dave Myrabo, told the Hollywood Reporter his sister died on March 31 after suffering several strokes over the years. Maloney had been in hospice care in Winter Park, Florida, since having the strokes.

Hal Erickson, in his book Sid and Marty Krofft: A Critical Study of Saturday Morning Children’s Televsion: 1948-1993 said Maloney’s “extensive dancing and mime skills enabled her to convey a full range of emotions for Honk without ever speaking a word of dialogue — and with her facial features utterly obscured,”

Voicework

Patty Maloney’s voicework included Darla in the early ’80’s animated adaption of Little Rascals. She voiced Tanis the Mummy in Scooby–Doo and the Ghoul School. Mrs.Segar in The New Batman Adventures. She provided additional voices for Ralph Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings (1978).

Her guest appearances on television included Skipper on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Tinkle Belle on Charlie’s Angels, Dottie Warren on The Love Boat, and Alice Bates on Little House on the Prairie.

Other sci-fi roles included Baby Neil on Out of This World, Torelda Tombs on the steam-punkish western Legend,and a waitress in Ice Pirates (1984).

It takes great talent and dedication to succeed in the entertainment business despite such physical challenges as one might be bestowed by genetics. We respect and honor her great achievements.

In private life, Patty Maloney was married to Joseph Vitek. Her husband predeceased her in 1968. Ms. Maloney is survived by her brother Dave Myrabo, and her nieces Jennifer and Laura. Our comfort and condolences to them.