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Peter Mayhew
Peter William Mayhew (19 May 1944 – 30 April 2019) was a British-American actor. He was best known for portraying Chewbacca in the Star Wars film series. He played the character in all of his live-action appearances from the 1977 original to 2015's The Force Awakens before his retirement from the role. He also voiced the character in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and portrayed him in some non-canon television shows including The Muppet Show.
Peter Mayhew was born on 19 May 1944, in Barnes, Surrey. At the age of 8, he was diagnosed with gigantism. Mayhew also had a genetic tissue disorder called Marfan syndrome. His peak height was 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 m).
Mayhew gained his first acting job when the producers of Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) discovered him from a photograph in a newspaper article about men with large feet, and cast him in the role of the Minoton.
Mayhew played Chewbacca in five Star Wars films of the Skywalker saga: the original trilogy (Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi), Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
When casting the original Star Wars (1977), director George Lucas needed a tall actor who could fit the role of the hairy alien Chewbacca. He originally had in mind 6-foot-6-inch (1.98 m) bodybuilder David Prowse, but Prowse chose to play Darth Vader. This led Lucas to cast Mayhew, who was working as a hospital orderly in the emergency department at Mayday University Hospital in Surrey. He became aware of a casting call for Star Wars which was filming at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. The 7-foot-3-inch (2.21 m) tall actor was immediately cast as Chewbacca after he stood up to greet Lucas. Mayhew continued working as an orderly at the same hospital in between filming the original Star Wars trilogy. The success and cultural impact of Star Wars led to further sequels rounding out the original trilogy, two more trilogies and television shows which continued Mayhew's association with his character and the franchise for the next decades.
Mayhew modelled his performance of Chewbacca after researching the behaviour of bears, monkeys and gorillas he saw at London Zoo. Lucas said Mayhew was "the closest any human being could be to a Wookiee: big heart, gentle nature and I learnt to always let him win". The character did not have any lines, the sounds he made being derived from sound recordings of animal noises.
The release of Star Wars, the first film in the series and fourth chapter of the Skywalker saga, took place in 1977 and received positive reviews. He filmed several scenes for the original trilogy at Elstree Studios. Mayhew starred in The Empire Strikes Back; the film received positive reviews and was the highest-grossing film of the year. Ever since its release and even after a reassessment, it is considered to be the best film in the Star Wars series. He also appeared in the 1980 television documentary special, SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back. Although 1983's Return of the Jedi marked the end of the original trilogy, some back stories George Lucas created would generate production and filming of the prequel trilogy in the 1990s and eventually contribute to Mayhew's reprisal. The actor shared his memories of his costume and experience on the first three films in the 2004 documentary film, Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy. The documentary was included in the first DVD release of the original trilogy.
"As soon as I put the Chewie costume on, the character came out. It was like riding a bike. One minute I could be standing there talking to someone and having a normal conversation, but the moment I put on the mask, I became the character. Chewbacca literally came alive. It was quite amazing."
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Peter Mayhew
Peter William Mayhew (19 May 1944 – 30 April 2019) was a British-American actor. He was best known for portraying Chewbacca in the Star Wars film series. He played the character in all of his live-action appearances from the 1977 original to 2015's The Force Awakens before his retirement from the role. He also voiced the character in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and portrayed him in some non-canon television shows including The Muppet Show.
Peter Mayhew was born on 19 May 1944, in Barnes, Surrey. At the age of 8, he was diagnosed with gigantism. Mayhew also had a genetic tissue disorder called Marfan syndrome. His peak height was 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 m).
Mayhew gained his first acting job when the producers of Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) discovered him from a photograph in a newspaper article about men with large feet, and cast him in the role of the Minoton.
Mayhew played Chewbacca in five Star Wars films of the Skywalker saga: the original trilogy (Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi), Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
When casting the original Star Wars (1977), director George Lucas needed a tall actor who could fit the role of the hairy alien Chewbacca. He originally had in mind 6-foot-6-inch (1.98 m) bodybuilder David Prowse, but Prowse chose to play Darth Vader. This led Lucas to cast Mayhew, who was working as a hospital orderly in the emergency department at Mayday University Hospital in Surrey. He became aware of a casting call for Star Wars which was filming at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. The 7-foot-3-inch (2.21 m) tall actor was immediately cast as Chewbacca after he stood up to greet Lucas. Mayhew continued working as an orderly at the same hospital in between filming the original Star Wars trilogy. The success and cultural impact of Star Wars led to further sequels rounding out the original trilogy, two more trilogies and television shows which continued Mayhew's association with his character and the franchise for the next decades.
Mayhew modelled his performance of Chewbacca after researching the behaviour of bears, monkeys and gorillas he saw at London Zoo. Lucas said Mayhew was "the closest any human being could be to a Wookiee: big heart, gentle nature and I learnt to always let him win". The character did not have any lines, the sounds he made being derived from sound recordings of animal noises.
The release of Star Wars, the first film in the series and fourth chapter of the Skywalker saga, took place in 1977 and received positive reviews. He filmed several scenes for the original trilogy at Elstree Studios. Mayhew starred in The Empire Strikes Back; the film received positive reviews and was the highest-grossing film of the year. Ever since its release and even after a reassessment, it is considered to be the best film in the Star Wars series. He also appeared in the 1980 television documentary special, SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back. Although 1983's Return of the Jedi marked the end of the original trilogy, some back stories George Lucas created would generate production and filming of the prequel trilogy in the 1990s and eventually contribute to Mayhew's reprisal. The actor shared his memories of his costume and experience on the first three films in the 2004 documentary film, Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy. The documentary was included in the first DVD release of the original trilogy.
"As soon as I put the Chewie costume on, the character came out. It was like riding a bike. One minute I could be standing there talking to someone and having a normal conversation, but the moment I put on the mask, I became the character. Chewbacca literally came alive. It was quite amazing."
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