Kenneth George "Kenny" Baker is an English actor and musician.
Background
Baker, who stands 3 ft 8 in (112 cm) tall, was born and educated in Birmingham, West Midlands, and at boarding school in Kent. He wanted to follow in his father"s footsteps and be an engraver, but had not received sufficient education. He went to live with his father, stepmother and half sister in Hastings, Sussex and in 1951 was approached on the street by a lady who invited him to join a theatrical troupe of dwarves and midgets.
Career
He is well known for portraying the character R2-D2 in the popular science-fiction movie franchise Star Wars. 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 had formed a successful comedy act called the Minitones with entertainer Jack Purvis when George Lucas hired him to be the man inside R2-D2 in Star Wars in 1976.
He was originally going to play Wicket, but he fell ill and that role was handed over to Warwick Davis. Baker is featured on Justin Lee Collins"s "Bring Back Star Wars".
He revealed a feud between him and his co-star Anthony Daniels. He claimed Daniels had been rude to him on numerous occasions, and states that Daniels is rude to everyone, including fans.
Baker"s other films include The Elephant Manitoba, 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 British Broadcasting Corporation production of The Chronicles of Narnia. Later work
Baker played Casanova in the 1993 movie U.F.O., Baker played harmonica with the James Coutts" Scottish Dance Band at Hugh McCaig"s Silverstone Party in July 1997.
In November 2009, his biography, entitled From Tiny Acorns: The Kenny Baker Story, was made available through his website and at conventions and book signings.
lieutenant was written with Ken Mills. Baker continued his association with the character of R2-D2 in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was released on December 18, 2015 in North America.
In November 2015 it was confirmed that Jimmy Vee was cast as R2-D2 in Star Wars: Episode VIII, replacing Baker. In popular culture
Baker is depicted as a knight and courtier for a fictitious Queen Anne in Bryan Talbot"s parallel universe graphic novel Heart of Empire.
Views
In the late 1990s, Baker launched a brief stand up comedy career.
Membership
He was going to be a member of the cast, but he served as consultant for R2 instead.