Dr. Katler as Count Dooku, a former Jedi Master who went to the Dark Side.
When patients enter the rheumatology office of Ernie Katler, MD, FACP, FACR, in San Pablo, Calif., they’re transported to a galaxy far, far away.
Hundreds of toys, props and figurines of Yoda, Darth Vader, Jabba the Hutt and other characters, as well as three original Star Wars movie posters, greet patients. If they’re lucky, patients can also practice using a light saber, just in case they need to defend themselves against the Earth’s enemies.
By then, a real war had already erupted in Vietnam. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and served the next two years in Germany as a commander of the 189th medical attachment, caring for 5,000 troops and their families.
In 1974, he returned to Bellevue for his second year of residency and a two-year rheumatology fellowship, and joined the faculty for one year. Although he didn’t realize it at the time, his life was about to change. While still in Manhattan in 1977, he watched the first Star Wars movie.
The Golden Gate Garrison was asked to provide a photo op at an Astronaut/Space Station Museum event in Novato, Calif., in 2015. Dr. Katler is sending a force blast while flanked by a Clone trooper and an Imperial officer (left), and an Imperial stormtrooper.
“I was still a fellow at the time,” says Dr. Katler. “The sentinel moment was the first five minutes of the opening scene. It was such a step forward in terms of creativity, the way it was photographed. My mouth just opened up.”
But it wasn’t until the mid-1980s that he began collecting Star Wars memorabilia. Then in 2000, he purchased an Imperial stormtrooper costume kit from eBay and joined the GGG, whose members helped him manufacture the costume. He says many members had parents who worked on the original Star Wars movie and learned how to mold masks, sew authentic costumes and make rifles, helmets and other movie props from scratch.
Since then, the GGG has earned notoriety due to a local TV broadcast featuring its galactic adventures.
The Golden Gate Garrison of the 501st Legion collected $21,018 last year for charity.
As a devoted group member, Dr. Katler has dressed as multiple characters in the Star Wars universe, mostly for charitable events and an occasional barbecue for GGG supporters at his home. He has transformed into Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Count Dooku, a former Jedi Master who was swayed to the Dark Side. Likewise, his collection is quite impressive. His most prized possession is a Darth Vader mask made from the original mold that was signed by Dave Prowse, who played the original Darth Vader.
Dr. Katler remembers the moment he got hooked. It was the mid-1980s, when he stood in line for nearly five hours to see a Star Wars show of artifacts set up by the movie’s creator, George Lucas.
Local kids often come by Dr. Katler’s office for a tour and to get their photo taken. This neighbor is holding a puppet of Salacious Crumb, featured with Jabba the Hutt in Episode 5.
“It was like a party; everyone was having fun,” he recalls. “Then George Lucas came marching down with two stormtroopers to take photos with kids in line. He wouldn’t let adults take photos of him. I have a photo of myself being arrested by two stormtroopers.”
When Lucas was named Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses parade in 2007, Dr. Katler was among the 200 stormtroopers who volunteered to march in costume during the parade.
“Lucas took 100 volunteers from the U.S. and another 100 from Europe,” he says, adding that he has met Lucas on several occasions. “We all stayed at a Los Angeles hotel for several days to learn how to march for six miles wearing a plastic outfit. It was like being on stage without having to remember your lines.”
Dr. Katler and the Golden Gate Garrison.
Over the years, he and other members of the GGG attended events in costume at Skywalker Ranch, Lucas’ movie ranch and workplace near Nicasio, Calif. They engaged in mock arrests, grabbing and hauling off members of the international press corps who were invited to review the movies.
Follow Your Passions
Although dressing up in costume is always fun, Dr. Katler says it’s even more enjoyable when doing so for charity. In recent years, he and other GGG members have visited children in hospitals and soldiers in the local veteran’s hospital and attended charitable events in costume to support organizations like Make-A-Wish Foundation and Ronald McDonald House. Just last year, the group raised more than $21,000 for charities. Several months ago, Dr. Katler attended the Arthritis Foundation’s Bike-a-Thon as Count Dooku.
Dr. Katler throws a force blast.
With no more room to display Star Wars memorabilia either at home or work, Dr. Katler has called it quits as a collector. At age 72, he still plans on dressing as movie characters for fundraisers, but he now wants to carve out time for his other interests—astronomy, growing orchids and bonsai trees and caring for his two Saluki hounds.
He says living life to its fullest is something he learned while in medical school. At the time, he was living in Haight-Ashbury, a district in San Francisco that is arguably the birthplace of the hippie movement.
“The culture made a very profound mark on my outlook on life,” he says, adding that in 2014, he began phasing out his practice and now works two days a week.
“It is essential to have passions in life. In that regard, I consider myself very lucky.”
Carol Patton is a freelance writer based in Las Vegas.
Note: Listen to Dr. Katler talk about his passion on our website at https://www.the-rheumatologist.org.
