Actor

Born: August 24, 1934;

Died: August 13, 2016

KENNY Baker, who has died aged 81, had a showbusiness career spanning more than 60 years, but was best-known for a single role in which he never got to show his face. In the Star Wars movies, he was the dwarf actor inside R2-D2, undoubtedly one of the most famous robots in popular culture.

R2-D2, who looked like a cross between a Dalek and a dustbin, and his camp android sidekick C-3PO were the first characters to be seen in the original Star Wars film back in 1977 and they played a prominent role throughout the original trilogy, often providing comic relief with their squabbling like a married robot couple.

Baker was only 3 ft 8 inches tall and had to be lowered by film crew into the tight confines of the robot framework. “They have to take the head off and pick me up and put me in,” he said. “I have a seat inside, a child’s car seat, to sit on.” He operated levers to control R2-D2’s movements.

Much of the filming on the original Star Wars was done in Tunisia, doubling for the planet Tatooine, and R2-D2 did not come with air conditioning. Baker was stuck inside for up to half an hour at a time with temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike C-3PO, R2-D2 did not have dialogue and communicated with a series of beeps, which seems appropriate to describe such working conditions.

R2-D2 and C-3PO are the only characters to appear in all seven Star Wars films. Baker played R2-D2 in the first six. However by the time of the second trilogy, the prequels, his contribution was more limited with radio-controlled models and CGI playing a greater role.

His name probably does not mean much to a lot of people, but Baker was an almost legendary figure among fans of the series and he was a regular guest at fan conventions.

Ewan McGregor recalled his excitement on meeting him when he started work on the fourth film The Phantom Menace (1999). “I went home one day and my wife was sitting with a lot of her mates, and I go ‘I worked with R2-D2 today.’ And they all looked at me and went ‘Who?’ I guess it’s a boy’s thing.”

Baker was a consultant on the most recent Star Wars film last year’s The Force Awakens. After hearing news of his death, George Lucas said: “Kenny Baker was a real gentleman as well as an incredible trooper who always worked hard under difficult circumstances,”

Kenneth George Baker was born in Birmingham in 1934 and in his mid-teens he joined a troupe of entertainers called Burton Lester’s Midgets. He worked as a disc jockey with Mecca and as a clown with Billy Smart’s Circus and he regularly appeared in touring ice shows. Panto season also provided regular work.

He developed a nightclub act with the dwarf entertainer Jack Purvis, who also appeared in several films with him, including the original Star Wars and its sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), with Purvis playing several different roles.

Baker met his wife Eileen when he appeared on Michael Parkinson’s chat show and she was in the audience. She was also a dwarf and Baker, his wife Eileen and Jack Purvis all played Wombles in Wombling Free (1977), a big-screen spin-off from the hit children’s television show, with Baker as Bungo, his wife inside the Tobermory outfit and Purvis as Great Uncle Bulgaria.

Baker did get a chance to show his face on film in a sizeable role in Terry Gilliam’s fantasy film Time Bandits (1981) when he and Purvis both played members of a gang of time-travelling robbers. The dwarf characters were all apparently based on members of the Monty Python team, with Baker’s character Fidgit representing Michael Palin and Purvis’s character Wally inspired by Terry Jones. Purvis died in 1997, aged 60.

Baker also appeared in a Goodies version of Snow White (1981) and his other films include The Elephant Man (1980), Flash Gordon (1980), Amadeus (1984), Mona Lisa (1986) and Labyrinth (1986).

As well as R2-D2, he played an Ewok in Return of the Jedi, as did his wife. She died in 1993 and he is survived by two sons.

BRIAN PENDREIGH