British actor Kenny Baker, the actor behind R2D2, a key member of the Star Wars saga, died today after a long illness. He was 81.
Born in 1934, the actor who stood 3 ft 8 in (112 cm) tall, shot to fame after he became the man behind the beloved Hollywood robot R2-D2. He was first seen as R2-D2 in A New Hope in 1977. Baker went on to play the character in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, as well as the three Star Wars prequels from 1999 to 2005. He was last seen in the 2015 movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The actor also appeared in a number of other much loved films in the 1980s, including The Elephant Man, Time Bandits, and Flash Gordon.
Fans and friends alike are devastated to hear of the actor’s loss. George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars, said, “A talented vaudevillian who could always make everybody laugh, Kenny was truly the heart and soul of R2-D2 and will be missed by all his fans and everyone who knew him.” President of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy said, “There is no Star Wars without R2-D2, and Kenny defined who R2-D2 was and is. He will be greatly missed.”
Many fans expressed their grief on social media platform Twitter:
#KennyBaker is gone. #RIPR2D2 You will live on in this galaxy for years to come!
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) August 13, 2016
Unintelligible, unrecognisable, graceless and looked like a waste paper basket. Yet #R2D2 was kind of the heart of #starwars RIP #Kennybaker
— Ruairí O’Brien (@obrien_ruairi) August 13, 2016
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Baker grew up in Birmingham, England. He was married to actress Eileen Baker, who co-starred with him in the 1977 film Wombling Free. A man of eclectic tastes, he first joined a theatrical troupe of dwarves and midgets. He then went on to learn ice skating and appeared in many ice shows. He had formed a successful comedy act called the Minitones with entertainer Jack Purvis when George Lucas hired him in 1976, to be the man behind R2-D2 in the Star Wars series.
Feature image courtesy: Knownpeople.net
