--- title: Star Wars: Chewbacca Actor Pens Tribute to R2-D2 Kenny Baker description: Following Star Wars actor Kenny Baker's death, Peter Mayhew took to his personal website to honor the man who brought R2-D2 to life. canonical: https://time.com/4454741/chewbacca-peter-mayhew-r2-d2-kenny-baker-tribute/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-16T18:30:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:35:33.781Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Chewbacca Actor Shares Tribute to Star Wars Star Kenny Baker og:description: "My sadness is profound" og:url: https://time.com/4454741/chewbacca-peter-mayhew-r2-d2-kenny-baker-tribute/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chewbacca Actor Shares Tribute to Star Wars Star Kenny Baker twitter:description: "My sadness is profound" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Chewbacca Actor Peter Mayhew Shares Touching Tribute to _Star Wars_ Co-star Kenny Baker > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 16, 2016 6:30 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 16, 2016 6:30 PM UTC Following [_Star Wars_](http://time.com/4453901/rogue-one-star-wars-international-trailer-jyn-erso-father/) actor [Kenny Baker’s death](http://time.com/4451401/star-wars-rd-d2-kenny-baker-dies-81/), [Peter Mayhew](http://time.com/4108013/chewbacca-peter-mayhew-star-was-fan/) took to his [personal website](http://www.chewbacca.com/kenny.php) to honor the man who brought R2-D2 to life. Mayhew – who plays Chewbacca in the space fantasy franchise – penned an emotional tribute to his longtime friend, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 81. “I know I’m a bit late with this, but my sadness is profound and no words seemed adequate to convey what we collectively and I personally have lost with the passing of my dear friend Kenny Baker,” he wrote. The 72-year-old actor also spoke about how he and Baker were brought together by their dramatic height difference, as Mayhew stood at 7-foot-3 while Baker was 3-foot-8. > [](https://twitter.com/StarWarsTHX/status/739463095999942657) “Kenny and I became fast friends the first time we met and formed a lifelong bond after realizing that we had so much in common,” he wrote. “Although people liked to contrast the difference in our heights, we found we shared many of the same struggles, from finding clothes, driving cars, and fitting in airplane seats to health issues and the ever constant stares of strangers; we understood each other on a level that few others can. I am so very glad I got to spend time with him in London earlier this month. His talent and his wicked sense of humor never diminished even as his health did.” Read the full eulogy at [Chewbacca.com](http://www.chewbacca.com/kenny.php). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4454741/chewbacca-peter-mayhew-r2-d2-kenny-baker-tribute/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4454741/chewbacca-peter-mayhew-r2-d2-kenny-baker-tribute/"},"headline":"Chewbacca Actor Peter Mayhew Shares Touching Tribute to Star Wars Co-star Kenny Baker","datePublished":"2016-08-16T18:30:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:35:33.781Z","description":"\"My sadness is profound\"","url":"https://time.com/4454741/chewbacca-peter-mayhew-r2-d2-kenny-baker-tribute/","keywords":["movies","Newsfeed","celebrities","Star Wars topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"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/4454741/chewbacca-peter-mayhew-r2-d2-kenny-baker-tribute/","name":"Chewbacca Actor Peter Mayhew Shares Touching Tribute to Star Wars Co-star Kenny Baker"}}]}] ```