Kenny Baker (English actor)

Kenny Baker
Baker in February 2005
Born	Kenneth George Baker (1934-08-24)24 August 1934 Birmingham, England
Died	13 August 2016(2016-08-13) (aged 81) Preston, Lancashire, England
Cause of death	Chronic condition
Occupation	Actor, musician
Years active	1960–2015
Spouse(s)	Eileen Baker (1970–1993; her death)
Children	2

Kenneth George "Kenny" Baker (24 August 1934 – 13 August 2016) was an English actor and musician. He is best known for portraying the character R2-D2 in the Star Wars science fiction movie franchise.

Baker was born and educated in Birmingham, Warwickshire, and at a boarding school in Kent. He was the son of Ethel (1906–1990), a pianist and dress maker, and Harold Baker (1908–1985), an artist, musician and draftsman. He went to live with his father, stepmother and half-sister in Hastings, Sussex.

Although his parents were of average height, Baker stood 3 ft 8 in (1.12 m) as an adult.

In 1951 Baker was approached on the street by a woman who invited him to join a theatrical troupe of dwarves 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.

While working with Purvis and the Minitones, Baker was selected by George Lucas to operate the robot ("droid") R2-D2 in the science fiction feature film Star Wars, released in 1977. Baker recalled that he initially turned down the role.

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 going 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.