In Memory of Kenny Baker (1934-2016)

Kenny Baker (1934-2016)

Hello, movie bloggers. You are all quite familiar with the character of R2-D2 in the "Star Wars" series, which became one of the iconic robots in film. The man inside the little astromech droid, English actor Kenny Baker, has recently died of a long illness two weeks short of his 82nd birthday on August 13th, 2016. 

Baker was raised and educated in Birmingham, Warwickshire and stood three feet and eight inches tall (112 cm) due to his condition called dwarfism, which stunts his growth. It made him part of a theatrical troupe of dwarves, and later, he performed at the circus, which was only for a brief time. In 1976, while doing a successful comedy act with fellow dwarf entertainer Jack Purvis, director George Lucas hired him to operate the droid R2-D2 in his soon-to-be-famous epic space adventure, "Star Wars". This role became synonymous for him to play the character in two more instalments from 1980 to 1983, followed by the prequels from 1999 to 2005. In addition to his portrayal of R2, Kenny was one of the Ewoks in "Return of the Jedi".

Kenny had starred in other movies outside of his known league in "Star Wars", including "Flash Gordon", "The Elephant Man", "Time Bandits", "Amadeus" and other George Lucas film productions such as "Labyrinth" and "Willow". In 2015, after ten years, he continued his association with the character and acted only as a consultant in "The Force Awakens". Before his death, Jimmy Vee took over his role of R2 and is yet to appear in the upcoming Episode VIII.

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