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Star Wars Actor Kenny Baker Dies at Age 81 (theguardian.com)
An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes The Guardian:
The British actor who played R2-D2 in the Star Wars films has died at the age of 81 after a long illness. Kenny Baker, who was 3-feet 8-inches tall, shot to fame in 1977 when he first played the robot character.
He 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 also appeared in a number of other much loved films in the 1980s, including The Elephant Man, Time Bandits and Flash Gordon.
Baker's niece told the newspaper that "He brought lots of happiness to people and we'll be celebrating the fact that he was well loved throughout the world..."
He 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 also appeared in a number of other much loved films in the 1980s, including The Elephant Man, Time Bandits and Flash Gordon.
Baker's niece told the newspaper that "He brought lots of happiness to people and we'll be celebrating the fact that he was well loved throughout the world..."
Baker had a varied career that included lots of musical theatre and the circus as well as heaps of roles in other productions. I bet he had a million stories to tell.
Who could have imagined that because off the shelf analogue radio controls were so crappy in the 1970s and a series of accidental meetings, it was easier to hire him to steer the inside of the R2D2 Prop. That he was short made him in the Star Wars promotion circuit with kids and so forth.
What a life.
From what I've read, his counterpart Daniels is a 'difficult' personality and the two didn't get along. And from what I've read of that relationship, Baker towered in stature over Daniels as a person.
Thanks for being part of my childhood.
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