Kenneth George Baker (24 August 1934 – 13 August 2016) was a British actor, comedian 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.
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Early life
Baker was born and educated in Birmingham, West Midlands, and at a boarding school in Kent. He was the son of Ethel (1906–1990), a pianist and dress maker, and Harold Baker (1908–1949), an artist, musician and draughtsman. He went to live with his father, stepmother, and half-sister in Hastings, Sussex.
Due to his dwarfism, Baker stood 3 ft 8 in (1.12 m) as an adult. Both his parents were of average height.
Career
Beginnings
In 1951, Baker was approached on the street by a woman who invited him to join John Lester's theatrical troupe of little people. 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 Mini Tones 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 ("droid") R2-D2 in the fantasy feature film Star 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 show Opportunity Knocks. On 22 March 1976, Baker's first day of filming took place at Tunisia which provided the setting for Tatooine. He "wore a harness that secured the R2-D2 unit to his body" and controlled turning the head, walk or light up whenever it was required. This version of the unit in which Baker could fit inside weighed about 80 pounds and was effective for making his character wobble and bow as well as turning his dome. There was an opaque window and although Baker could not see much at all, he insisted he "didn't need to, as long as [he] could see who [he] was supposed to be reacting to." A mechanical R2-D2 was built for some scenes which required the droid to roll along on three legs. There were many versions of R2-D2 for the first six theatrical films. The success of Star Wars launched a multimedia franchise leading to two more films rounding out the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy and film conventions which continued Baker's association with his character and the franchise. Prior to the release Baker, like the cast and crew, did not expect the film to be a success.
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 the ewok named Wicket, but he fell ill and that role was handed over to Warwick Davis. Baker was featured in the 2004 documentary film, Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy.
Prior to the beginning of filming on Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace in 1997, fans campaigned on the Internet to retain Baker as R2-D2; George Lucas replied that the actor would reprise the role. Baker operated R2-D2 for scenes which did not require radio-controlled versions of the character. While some of the younger versions of established characters were portrayed by new cast members, Baker, Anthony Daniels, Frank Oz and Ian McDiarmid were the only actors from the original trilogy to reprise their roles. The film was released to cinemas in May 1999.
As digital technology advanced (allowing R2-D2 to fly and climb stairs) and the need to have Baker operating the unit decreased over time, he acted sporadically in the prequel trilogy. He requested to appear in one scene for Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones "for old time's sake." Baker and Daniels filmed the one scene at Ealing Studios; R2-D2 and C-3PO attending Anakin and Padme's secret wedding on Naboo. Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman had already filmed their scene at Lake Como, Italy so Baker's and Daniels' scene was later inserted. The one scene was the last day of filming for Attack of Clones.
Other work
Baker's other films include The Elephant Man, Time Bandits (also with Jack Purvis), Willow (also with Purvis and Warwick Davis), 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 movie UFO.
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 (who co-starred with him in the 1977 film Wombling Free) from 1970 until her death in 1993. Although Eileen also had dwarfism, their two children did not inherit their parents' dwarfism.
Baker was invited to attend the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Los Angeles in December 2015, but was too ill to travel to the US. He had a lung condition for years. Instead, Baker attended the film's premiere in London.
Death
Baker died on 13 August 2016, 11 days shy of his 82nd birthday. His funeral was held at the Park Cemetery and Crematorium in Lytham St Annes on 24 August 2016.
