Kenneth George Baker was an English actor and musician. He portrayed the character R2-D2 in the Star Wars franchise and also appeared in The Elephant Man, Time Bandits, Willow, Flash Gordon, Amadeus and Labyrinth.
Early life
Baker was born and educated in Birmingham, Warwickshire, and at a boarding school in Kent. He was the son of Ethel, a pianist and dress maker, and Harold Baker, an artist, musician and draughtsman. He went to live with his father, stepmother and half-sister in Hastings, Sussex. Although his parents were of average height, Baker stood as an adult.
Career
Beginnings
In 1951 Baker was approached on the street by a woman who invited him to join a theatrical troupe of dwarfs 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 formed a successful comedy act called the Minitones with entertainer Jack Purvis and played in nightclubs.
''Star Wars''
While working with Purvis and the Minitones, Baker was selected by George Lucas to operate the robot R2-D2 in the fantasy feature filmStar Wars, released in 1977. Baker recalled that he initially turned down the role, concerned about breaking up the Minitones partnership when the duo had reached the final on the British television talent showOpportunity Knocks. Baker appears as R2-D2 in six of the episodic theatrical Star Wars films, and played an additional role in 1983's Return of the Jedi as Paploo, the Ewok who steals an Imperial speeder bike. He was originally due to play Wicket, but he fell ill and that role was handed over to Warwick Davis. He revealed a feud between him and his co-star Anthony Daniels, claiming Daniels had been rude to him on numerous occasions, and stated that Daniels is rude to everyone, including fans. Baker continued his association with the R2-D2 character in ', which was released on 18 December 2015 in North America. He was going to be a member of the cast, but he served as consultant for the character instead. In November 2015 it was confirmed that Jimmy Vee was cast as R2-D2 in ', replacing Baker.
Other work
Baker's other films include The Elephant Man, Time Bandits, Willow, 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. In the late 1990s, Baker launched a brief comedy career. He played Casanova in the 1993 movieUFO. In November 2009, his biography, From Tiny Acorns: The Kenny Baker Story, was written with Ken Mills and published by Writestuff Autographs.
Personal life
Baker resided in Preston, Lancashire. He was married to actress Eileen Baker from 1970 until she died in 1993. Although Eileen also had dwarfism, this was not inherited by their two children. Baker was invited to attend the premiere of in Los Angeles in December 2015, but was too ill to travel to the US. He had been suffering from a lung condition for years. Instead, Baker attended the film's premiere in London.
Death
Kenny Baker died on August 13, 2016, fifteen days before his 82nd birthday, following a brief illness.
