Peter Mayhew

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peter Mayhew (2015)

Peter Mayhew (born May 19, 1944 in Barnes , England - † April 30, 2019 in Boyd , Texas ) was a British - American actor who was best known for portraying Wookiee Chewbacca in the Star Wars films.

Life

Before 2.21 meter tall Mayhew discovered acting, he was a nurse at King’s College Hospital in London . He got his first acting engagement in 1977 when the producers of the Ray Harryhausen film Sindbad and the Eye of the Tiger spotted Mayhew in a photo in a newspaper article about men with big feet. They cast him for the role of the Minotaur .

When casting the roles for his first Star Wars film , director George Lucas needed a great actor who could fit into the costume for Chewbacca. He originally had bodybuilder David Prowse in mind, but Prowse chose to play Darth Vader because he would rather play a bad guy . This led Lucas' search to Mayhew, who played the role of Chewbacca in a total of five Star Wars films. Mayhew also took on the role in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), but then gave it up for health reasons. In the 2017 film Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Mayhew acted as an advisor to the new Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo .

Mayhew was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the MTV Movie Awards in 1997 for his portrayal of Chewbacca .

According to his family, Mayhew was active in several non-profit organizations and founded a foundation "which is committed to providing relief to people with illness, pain and financial stress after traumatic events".

He became a US citizen in 2005 . Mayhew last lived with his wife, Angie, and children in Boyd, Wise County , Texas, where he died of a heart attack on April 30, 2019, aged 74 .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Peter Mayhew  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mourning for "Chewbacca" actor Peter Mayhew. In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur , Kulturnachrichten. May 3, 2019, accessed May 3, 2019 .
  2. ^ Chewbacca actor to become an American. In: Today.com . October 13, 2005, accessed May 4, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Aletha Adu: Peter Mayhew's cause of death was a heart attack after years of surgery. In: The Sun . May 3, 2019, accessed May 4, 2019 .
  4. ↑ "Chewbacca" -Mime Peter Mayhew is dead. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , weekend edition of 4-5. May 2019, p. 16 (in part: Feuilleton)
personal data
SURNAME Mayhew, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH May 19, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Barnes , England
DATE OF DEATH April 30, 2019
Place of death Boyd (Texas)