What Was The Name Of The Man Who Gave Indiana Jones His Iconic Fedora?

The opening act of Steven Spielberg’s 1989 adventure film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is set in 1912, when the title hero is just a teenager. Young Indy, played by River Phoenix, is seen on a horseback expedition with fellow scouts in the Moab, Utah wilderness. While exploring some of the area’s caves, Indy and her friend come across some independent treasure hunters in one of the caves. Treasure hunters have just unearthed a golden artifact that Indy immediately identifies as the Coronado Cross, a necklace of historical significance that belongs to the museum. Indy tries to steal the cross, but is caught trying to escape the cave. The hunters pursue him, leading to a long and elaborate chase involving horses, jeeps, and a circus train.

The chase ends when Indy is able to return home, having evaded his pursuers. He tries to show the cross to his father (Sean Connery), but his father is too busy looking to notice it. Then the sheriff appears. Indy begins to explain that he saved the cross from treasure hunters, but the warden explains that by law, the cross legally belongs to them. The leader of the treasure hunters advances. He’s a handsome, fedora-wearing adventurer, played by Richard Young. The handsome man tells Indy that he lost today, but Indy shouldn’t like that. He then puts a fedora on Indy’s head.

In the film’s credits and in the screenplay, the character is referred to only as “Fedora”, after the hat he was wearing. The hat was a forward-thinking fashion trend for treasure hunters, as it would not become a popular accessory in America for another decade.

Initially anonymous, Vidora was eventually renamed Garth in Expanded Universe lore and other additional sources.

Of course, even a casual Indiana Jones fan can see that the Fedora/Garth was meant to be some sort of “Indiana Jones, Mark 1” take. Actor Richard Young looks somewhat like adult Indy actor Harrison Ford, and even sports a similar facial scar (Indy has one on his chin, and Garth has one on his cheek). Both characters wear rugged leather jackets, and as we now see, literally the same hat. The Fedora was first invented in the 1890s and named after an Italian feminist play called “The Fedora.” The wide-brimmed Panamanian-style homburg was adopted by the play’s lead actress, Sarah Berhardt, a famous model, and was soon accepted as a symbol of women’s rights thereafter. So Indiana Jones, the archetypal symbol of masculine strength, wears a feminist cape on his head.

The character was referred to only as “Fedora” for many years, and was initially intended to be the same character as “Panama Hat” (Paul Maxwell), a wealthy industrialist who hired Fedora to steal the Coronado Cross. Early novels from 1989 did not yet feature the Panama Hat, because they were based on earlier drafts of the screenplay (written by Geoffrey Boam).

It seems that the name “Garth” entered the Indiana Jones lexicon by accident. In 2008, author Ryder Windham wrote an updated retelling of The Last Crusade, and referred to the character Fedora as Garth. This was evidence that Windham was not using the “Last Crusade” filming script as a reference, but rather a previously published version called “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Original movie Script” (now out of print). Looking closely at the “Original Film Script” reveals that it is not Boam’s actual script, but a copy of the final cut of “The Last Crusade”. For some reason, whoever copied this fake script decided to name the character Garth.

There goes Lucasfilm, controlling the prequels once again.

When this name of Garth was in turn included in the novels, the name was mistakenly made official. “Garth” has begun appearing in subtitled versions of the film.

However, on Lucasfilm’s website, the name “Garth” was explicitly rejected. There’s a section on the site called “All About Indiana Jones,” which notes that the character in question was only named Fedora, after his hat. Specifically, she says:

“In the opening prologue, the mysterious treasure hunter (played by Richard Young) whom Indy comes to model himself on is called ‘The Fedora’ in the script and end credits. More of a typical placeholder than an accurate name, the nickname refers to the central role the character plays in giving his hat to Indy (in a few other sources, he is sometimes referred to as ‘Garth’).”

This statement, along with the inaccuracy of “a handful of other sources”, suggests that Lucasfilm never intended to name the character after Garth, and that all references to “Garth” are false. This, despite the fact that the name appears in officially licensed novels and in the subtitles of the studio’s official Blu-ray releases. Garth is not real. It’s a fedora.

Oddly enough, the character has an additional name (unofficial name) thanks to a very obscure German Indiana Jones novel called “Indiana Jones und das Verschwundene Volk” or “Indiana Jones and the Lost People” by German author Wolfgang Hohlbein. In this book, Indy recalls the hunt for the Coronado Cross from his youth, and says that his opponent introduced himself as “Jake.” However, this is the only time the character is called Jake, so it appears to be an unofficial name like Garth.

If you’re a fan of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” be sure to check out our oral history of the film’s memorable climax.