Kenny Baker (English actor)

Kenny Baker

Baker at a science fiction convention, February 12, 2005
Born Kenneth George Baker
24 August 1934
Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom
Occupation Actor
Years active 1977–present

Kenneth George "Kenny" Baker (born 24 August 1934) is an English actor and musician. He is best known for portraying R2-D2 from within the chassis of the robot prop in the Star Wars film franchise.

Life and career

Baker, who stands 3 ft 8 in (112 cm) tall, was born and educated in Birmingham, West Midlands, and at boarding school in Kent. His parents were of average height.[1] He is an only child, and wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and be an engraver, but had not received sufficient education. He went to live with his stepmother in Hastings, Sussex and in 1951 was approached on the street by a lady who invited him to join a theatrical troupe of dwarves and midgets. This was his first taste of show business. Later, he joined a circus for a brief time, learned to ice-skate and appeared in many ice shows. He had formed a successful comedy act called the Minitones with entertainer Jack Purvis when George Lucas hired him to be the man inside R2-D2 in Star Wars in 1977.[2]

Baker appears in all six of the episodic theatrical Star Wars films. Baker played an additional role in 1983's Return of the Jedi as Paploo, the Ewok who steals an Imperial speeder bike. He was originally going to play Wicket, but he fell ill and that role was handed over to Warwick Davis. Kenny is featured on Justin Lee Collins's "Bring Back Star Wars". He revealed a feud between him and his co-star Anthony Daniels. He claimed Daniels had been rude to him on numerous occasions, and states that Daniels is rude to everyone, including fans.[3]

Baker's other films include The Elephant Man, Time Bandits (also with Jack Purvis), Willow (also with Purvis and Warwick Davis), Flash Gordon, Amadeus and Jim Henson's Labyrinth. On television, he appeared in the British medical drama Casualty.

He also had a part in the BBC production of The Chronicles of Narnia.

Later work

In the late 1990s, Baker launched a brief stand up comedy career. Baker played Casanova in the 1993 movie U.F.O., Baker played harmonica with the James Coutts' Scottish Dance Band at Hugh McCaig's Silverstone Party in July 1997. Baker currently resides in Preston, Lancashire. While both he and his wife have dwarfism, their two sons do not.

In November 2009, his biography entitled From Tiny Acorns: The Kenny Baker Story was made available through his website and at conventions and book signings. It was written with Ken Mills.

Despite his failing health, he will reprise his role as R2-D2 in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which will be released on December 18, 2015.[4]

In popular culture

Baker is depicted as a knight and courtier for a fictitious Queen Anne in Bryan Talbot's parallel universe graphic novel Heart of Empire.

References

  1. ↑ Newsbank
  2. ↑ Arnold, Alan. Once Upon A Galaxy: A Journal of The Making of The Empire Strikes Back, Del Ray-Ballantine Books, New York, 1980, p. 124-127.
  3. ↑ Williams, Andrew (2005-05-19). "Kenny Baker". Metro (Associated Newspapers). Retrieved 2009-01-28.
  4. ↑ "STAR WARS: EPISODE VII CAST ANNOUNCED". StarWars.com. April 29, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kenny "R2-D2" Baker.