Kenny Baker (actor)

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Kenny Baker (2005)

Kenneth George "Kenny" Baker (born August 24, 1934 in Birmingham , † August 13, 2016 in Preston ) was a British actor . He became known through the Star Wars films, in which he partially operated and played the droid R2-D2 .

Life

At the age of 16 he joined an acting troupe. After a three year tour, Baker moved to Billy Smarts Circus , where he worked as a clown and announcer. In 1960 he met Jack Purvis , who was also short , with whom he founded a comedy and musical group called " The Mini-Tones ". They played in theaters and clubs across Europe as well as in South Africa, Canada, the United States and New Zealand.

Baker was married to the short actress Eileen Baker from 1977 until her death in 1990 . Both appeared together in the films Wombling Free and Return of the Jedi . The marriage resulted in two sons who, unlike their parents, are of normal stature. Since 1994 Baker lived with his girlfriend Valerie Gale.

In addition to acting, Baker worked as a harmonica player; In the northern English jazz scene he played in the 1980s at the Blaydon Jazz Club.

Kenny Baker died in Preston on August 13, 2016 at the age of 81.

R2-D2

When preparations for Star Wars began, the special effects developers were looking for a short actor who would fit into the body of the cylindrical droid R2-D2. Although they initially planned to use a remote-controlled robot in a variety of scenes, director George Lucas felt it was necessary to bring the human factor into the role. Production designer John Barry knew the 1.11 meter tall Kenny Baker and thought he was the perfect cast for the role. Baker initially declined, believing that he would not feel comfortable inside a "vacuum cleaner". Apart from that, the role did not include a single line of text. But after a while and some persuasion, the production team managed to win the actor over for the role.

During the recordings for the first part of the trilogy, the remote-controlled R2-D2 did not work as it was originally planned, because the electronic components that were responsible for maneuvering the robot back and forth picked up signals from Tunisian radio stations. Therefore, Baker spent a large part of the filming in the "metal can".

Baker didn't have a lot of freedom of movement in his costume, and it was often so loud inside that he didn't hear Lucas shouts “Cut!” And didn't stop until one of the employees knocked on the robot. C-3PO's frequent blows to the droid's head in the films allude to this.

Baker was one of the few actors who appeared in all seven Star Wars parts that were made up until his death. From the seventh Star Wars film, however, he was only responsible as a consultant . The acting of R2-D2 was mainly taken over by Jimmy Vee .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nicola Slawson: Kenny Baker, actor behind R2-D2, dies . In: The Guardian of August 13, 2016
  2. ↑ a b Ciaran Brown meets actor Kenny Baker at ciaranbrown.com, accessed August 15, 2016
  3. ^ Obituary in Bebop Spoken Here
  4. ↑ Joe Calabro, Go LocalProv Lifestyle Team: GoLocalProv - Lifestyle - R2-D2 Actor Kenny Baker Coming to RI Comic Con 2016. In: golocalprov.com. May 5, 2016, accessed May 29, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Baker, Kenny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Baker, Kenneth George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Birmingham , UK
DATE OF DEATH August 13, 2016
Place of death Preston , UK