I came to the Star Wars films quite late, not watching A New Hope until I was pushing twenty years old. In my head it was sci-fi and too spacey. However, I gave it a go and instantly fell in love with the original trilogy. What I loved about the films, especially A New Hope was the relationship between C-3PO and R2-D2. It was essentially a double act where we never knew what one of them was saying! I think it's fair to say that both of these characters are Star Wars. As we've seen, the films work without many of its iconic cast but both C-3PO and R2-D2 appear in all of the seven films we've had so far and would be conspicuous by their absence.
Kenny Baker took on the role of R2-D2 in 1976, playing the role for the following twenty nine years in six films. It's fair to say that his role as the titular droid made him a household name among the franchises cult following. While this particular role will always be associated with him, it's important to remember that it wasn't his only role. Throughout his fifty five year career, Baker also appeared in Flash Gordon, Time Bandits, The Elephant Man, The Goodies, Willow and Labyrinth.
Unfortunately, Kenny Baker died last night just ten days before his 82nd birthday after a long illness. His final role was as a consultant on the seventh Star Wars film The Force Awakens. It seems that even Star Wars isn't safe from the curse on the celebrity world that appears to be 2016!
Kenny Baker
1934 - 2016
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