Kenny Baker left his well-lived life at 81.
Kenny Baker, the man behind Star Wars resourceful astromech droid, R2-D2, who was shot to fame in 1977, has died at the age of 81.
Everybody in his childhood has surely imagined himself holding a light saber sword and fought for the universe, as seen in the Star Wars movie. Some who fell short in height might have preferred to portray R2D2 in a school play.
R2-D2 served Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker in turn, showing great bravery in rescuing his masters and their friends from many perils.
The man behind the robot, Baker, the 3ft 8in actor, who also starred in Time Bandits and Flash Gordon, could not hold his life any longer after suffering from his illness for so long.
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.
“When he was a child, he was told that he probably wouldn’t survive through puberty, being a little person in those times, they didn’t have a very good life expectancy. He did extremely well in his life. He was very ill for the last few years so we had been expecting it. He had been looked after by one of his nephews, who found him on Saturday morning”, Baker’s niece, Abigail Shield told the reporters.
Baker met his wife Eileen after an appearance on the Michael Parkinson TV chat show. She wrote in and said she was a little person too and wanted to meet him. “They got married soon after,” Shield said. “Sadly she died of epilepsy about 20 years ago.”
Shiela also added that her Uncle had problems with his lungs and was often in a wheelchair. He was very poorly for a long time. He was asked to go out to LA for the new Star Wars premiere, but he was told he was too ill to travel. Luckily he did manage to meet George Lucas again when he came to Manchester.
“He brought lots of happiness to people and we’ll be celebrating the fact that he was well loved throughout the world. We’re all very proud of what he achieved in his lifetime”, added Shield.