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 the year 1912, when the title hero was only a teenager. The young Indy, played by River Phoenix, is seen on a horseback expedition with his fellow Boy Scouts out in the wilderness of Moab, Utah. While exploring some of the area's caves, Indy and a friend happen upon some freelance treasure hunters in a cave. The treasure hunters have just exhumed a golden artifact that Indy immediately identifies as the Cross of Coronado, a historically significant necklace that belongs in a museum. Indy tries to steal the Cross, but is caught trying to escape from 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 manages to make his way back to his house, having given his pursuers the slip. He tries to show the Cross to his father (Sean Connery), but his father is too busy with research to notice. Then the sheriff shows up. Indy begins explaining that he rescued the Cross from the treasure hunters, but the sheriff explains that, under the law, the Cross actually legally belongs to them. The leader of the treasure hunters steps forth. He's a handsome adventurer who wears a fedora, played by actor Richard Young. The handsome man tells Indy that he lost today, but that Indy doesn't have to like it. He then places his fedora on Indy's head. 

In the film's credits, and in the script, the character is only referred to as "Fedora," named after the hat he wore. The hat was forward-thinking fashion for the treasure hunter, as they wouldn't become super-popular accessories in America for another decade. 

Initially nameless, Fedora was eventually re-named Garth in expanded universe lore and other ancillary sources. 

Of course, even a casual Indiana Jones fan can see that Fedora/Garth was meant to be a sort of "Indiana Jones, Mark 1." Actor Richard Young looks a little bit like adult Indy actor Harrison Ford, and even sports a similar facial scar (Indy has a scar on his chin, Garth on his cheek). Both characters wear durable leather jackets, and, as we now see, wear literally the same hat. Fedoras were first invented in the 1890s, named after an Italian feminist play called "Fédora." The wide-brimmed, Panama-style homburg was adopted by the play's lead actress Sarah Berhardt, a famed cross-dresser, and it was soon accepted as a symbol of women's rights thereafter. So Indiana Jones, a symbol of archetypal masculine might, wears a feminist garment on his head. 

The character was only ever referred to as "Fedora" for many years, and was initially meant to be the same character as "Panama Hat" (Paul Maxwell), some kind of rich industrialist who hired Fedora to steal the Cross of Coronado. Early novelizations from 1989 didn't yet feature Panama Hat, as they were based on earlier drafts of the screenplay (written by Jeffrey Boam). 

It seems that the "Garth" name entered the Indiana Jones lexicon by accident. In 2008, author Ryder Windham wrote an updated novelization of "Last Crusade," and referred to the Fedora character as Garth. This was proof that Windham wasn't using the "Last Crusade" shooting script as a reference, but a previously published version called "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Original Movie Script" (now out of print). Looking close at that "Original Movie Script" reveals that it's not Boam's actual screenplay, but a transcription of the final cut of "Last Crusade." For some reason, whoever transcribed that fake screenplay decided to name the character Garth.

There goes Lucasfilm, controlling prequel narratives again.

When that Garth name was, in turn, included in novelizations, the name accidentally became official. "Garth" started to appear in subtitled versions of the movie. 

On the Lucasfilm website, however, the name "Garth" is denied explicity. There is a section on the site called "All About Indiana Jones," and it points out that the character in question was only ever named Fedora, named after his hat. Specifically, it says: 

"In the opening prologue, the mysterious treasure hunter (played by Richard Young) whom Indy comes to model himself on is literally called 'Fedora' in the script and end credits. More an archetypal placeholder than precise name, the moniker references the central role the character plays in giving his hat to Indy (in a handful of other sources, he is sometimes referred to as 'Garth')."

That parenthetical, as well as the inexactness of the phrase "a handful of other sources," indicate that Lucasfilm never intended for the character to be named Garth, and that all mentions of "Garth" are spurious. This, despite the fact that the name appears in officially licensed novelizations and in the subtitles of official studio Blu-ray releases. Garth isn't real. He's Fedora. 

Curiously, the character has one additional (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 that book, Indy recalls the hunt for the Cross of Coronado from his youth, and says that his foe introduced himself as "Jake." This, however, is the only time the character has ever been called Jake, so it seems to be just as unofficial a name as 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.