'Star Wars' Relative Dies

By Stephen M. Silverman

10/30/1997 at 12:00 AM EST

Shelagh Fraser, 87, who played Luke Skywalker's Aunt Beru in "Star Wars" (1977), has died after a lengthy illness, say reports. The precise date and cause of death were not disclosed in a statement posted on the StarWars.com Web site, but the British actress had been in movies for more than three decades before the George Lucas space adventure came along. Her movies include her debut, 1944's "Welcome, Mr. Washington" and 1969's "Staircase," which starred Rex Harrison and Richard Burton as aging gay lovers.