Stars of the new Star Wars films also paid tribute to Baker, who had served as a R2-D2 adviser on The Force Awakens.
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Baker, who stood 3 feet 8 inches tall, portrayed the spunky droid in the original Star Wars films as well as the prequels. Baker’s nephew and carer, Drew Myerscough, said he found Baker dead Saturday at his home in Preston, northwest England.
The studio behind the original Star Wars films, 20th Century Fox, posted a still of R2-D2 and C-3PO and said: “Rest in peace, Kenny Baker, the heart and soul of R2-D2”.
Baker’s agent Johnny Mans (who has known him since the 1960s), added: “He was part of a double act called the Mini-Tones, his partner being Jack Purvis, who sadly died after an accident with his auto”.
“Kenny was truly a great friend, one of the nicest guys you could ever wish to meet and a fabulous and talented performer”, Mans wrote in an email to the Los Angeles Times. Baker, 81, has died Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016. She went on to say that his life was long and fulfilled, and when he was a child, because he was a little person, he wasn’t even expected to live to reach puberty. “He WAS the droid I was looking for!” – a reference to a famous line from the first film. “He was R2D2 I was lucky enough to work with him for many years RIP lovely man”.
According to his official website, Kenny was born in Birmingham on August 24, 1934.
Partners: ‘Goodbye #KennyBaker A lifelong loyal friend-I loved his optimism & determination, ‘ Hamill tweeted. They’d made the robot in rough form and I was the only one around at the time that was just right for it.
Baker is also one of the only actors to have been involved in all seven, serving as “R2 Consultant” on the most recent The Force Awakens.
Kenny shot to fame when he first played the robot in 1977’s A New Hope.
“I worked the levers”, he told the AP.
But he relented: “I said, ‘I’ll help you out, I’ll do you a favor.’ He said, ‘You’ve got to do it”.
Baker began acting at 16, though his role in the first Star Wars movie in 1977 was what catapulted him into acting success. Baker accused Daniels of being snobbish; Daniels was once quoted by Britain’s Daily Mirror as saying Baker “might as well be a bucket”. He also acted in a number of other films from the ’80s including The Elephant Man, Time Bandits, Labyrinth, Flash Gordon, and the 1999 animated remake of The King And I.
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Baker met his wife, Eileen, as a fan. The couple had two sons.
