--- description: Kenny Baker brought life to the beloved droid in six of the 'Star Wars' films. He died Saturday after struggling for years with illness title: 'Star Wars' R2-D2 Actor Kenny Baker Has Died image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte60a81d6c77db2be/6988a250f887dcc2eee97108/kenny-baker.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # R2-D2 Actor Kenny Baker Dies at 81  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Updated: Dec 14, 2023 10:38 PM CUTPublished: Aug 13, 2016 5:41 PM CUT  Kenny Baker attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in London, on Dec. 16, 2015. Kenny Baker attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in London, on Dec. 16, 2015.Anthony Harvey—Getty Images; Lucasfilm  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Updated: Dec 14, 2023 10:38 PM CUTPublished: Aug 13, 2016 5:41 PM CUT **Correction appended, Aug. 13** Kenny Baker, who played R2-D2 in six of the _Star Wars_ movies, has died at the age of 81, his family said. He had been sick for several years. Baker appeared in _Flash Gordon_ and _The Elephant Man_. But he was most famous for inhabiting R2-D2 in Episodes I-VI of _Star Wars_. For the earliest films, the 3-foot-8-inch British actor would slide inside the R2-D2 costume and shake and spin to animate the beloved droid’s reactions to other characters’ dialogue. Though he did not star in _The Force Awakens_—he had been restricted to a wheelchair by the time the newest _Star Wars_ film was released—he was credited as a consultant on the film. Baker’s niece [told _The Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/13/kenny-baker-r2-d2-dies-star-wars "undefined") that he was invited to the premiere of the film, but he was too sick to go. **Correction**: The original version of this story misstated Kenny Baker’s age. He was 81. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4451401/star-wars-rd-d2-kenny-baker-dies-81/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4451401/star-wars-rd-d2-kenny-baker-dies-81/"},"headline":"R2-D2 Actor Kenny Baker Dies at 81","datePublished":"2016-08-13T17:41:03.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-14T22:38:42.000Z","description":"The actor brought life to the beloved droid in six of the Star Wars films","url":"https://time.com/4451401/star-wars-rd-d2-kenny-baker-dies-81/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte60a81d6c77db2be/6988a250f887dcc2eee97108/kenny-baker.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte60a81d6c77db2be/6988a250f887dcc2eee97108/kenny-baker.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"kenny-baker","caption":"Kenny Baker attends the European Premiere of \"Star Wars: The Force Awakens\" in London, on Dec. 16, 2015.","creditText":"Anthony Harvey—Getty Images; Lucasfilm","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4451401/star-wars-rd-d2-kenny-baker-dies-81/","name":"R2-D2 Actor Kenny Baker Dies at 81"}}]}] ```