‘Star Wars’ Kenny Baker Dies: R2-D2 Actor Was 81
by Greg Evans
Kenny Baker, the 3-foot, 8-inch actor who played beloved robot R2-D2 in six Star Wars films beginning with the 1977 original, has died at his home in Preston, England following a lengthy illness. He was 81.
The British Baker had roles in Time Bandits and The Elephant Man, TV’s The Goodies, among others, but it’s his work inside Star Wars‘ beeping, whirring little white, silver and blue robot that brought him worldwide and lasting fame. (Coincidentally, TCM aired Time Bandits Saturday afternoon as part of the channel’s 24-hour tribute to actor Ralph Richardson).
“He did extremely well in his life,” Shield said. “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 played R2-D2 in Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jediand the three prequels that kicked off in 1999.
Shield said her uncle was told as a child that he “probably wouldn’t survive through puberty, being a little person in those times, they didn’t have a very good life expectancy.”