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Peter Mayhew
Biographical information
Nationality
Career
Occupation
- "[Star Wars] has been the best thing that ever happened to me. In the last 25 years, I've been able to travel all over the world, get paid for it. I never have to pay for a thing. I can go out in public without being recognized. If I want to be recognized in public, it will happen.Star Wars was great to me. I'm set for life."
- ―Peter Mayhew[2]
Peter Mayhew (May 19,1944 –April 30,2019) was aBritish actor, best remembered for his portrayal ofChewbacca in theStar Wars films. He was born inBarnes,London,England.
Biography[]
Peter Mayhew was working as a hospital assistant at Mayday University Hospital in Thornton Heath, Croydon, Surrey. Prior to his work onStar Wars, Mayhew was first cast in the role of a Minotaur on aprevious movie filming nearby. The producers, Ray Harryhausen and Sam Wanamaker discovered Mayhew from a photograph in a newspaper article about men with large feet. Mayhew's portrayal of the Minotaur in the 1977 film impressed several film-industry employees, who offered him a chance to act for more movies in the future; he accepted. After finishing his work as the Minotaur, Mayhew received a phone call from20th Century Fox, who informed him of the production forStar Wars: Episode IVA New Hope and asked him to audition for one of the characters. Mayhew remarked that "You don't get these chances [to star in a film] very often," so he accepted the offer and made his way to Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, which incidentally was also near the hospital Mayhew worked at.
Mayhew (right) at SciFi Expo 2004
Upon entering the office, Mayhew spotted paintings of the characters on a wall, done byRalph McQuarrie. At one end wasDarth Vader, who was listed as "Six foot nine." Mayhew quipped that Vader was "too small," so he surveyed the other characters. At the other end was Chewbacca, whose initial design was described by Mayhew as "almost like a Neanderthal man" with a small sign that read "Eight foot plus, blue eyes." Having blue eyes himself, Mayhew picked Chewbacca as the character to audition. Immediately afterward, the door to the office opened; directorGeorge Lucas walked into the room, with producerGary Kurtz flanking him. Mayhew stood up from the sofa on instinct, something he attributes to living in England. Lucas looked up, shook hands with Mayhew, turned to Kurtz and said "I think we found him." Lucas and Kurtz would go on to explain what the character was, as well as the design of the costume. Originally, Chewbacca had shorts and a vest, which Lucas advised against due to Chewbacca being an animal.
Lucas originally had the idea of castingDavid Prowse, a six footer, asChewbacca, but in a show of irony, Prowse chose to beDarth Vader, because he "didn't want to be a masked character." Consequently, the role of Chewbacca was given to Mayhew. His first shot wasDocking Bay 94, whereHan Solo was talking toJabba theHutt.[3] When cast in the role, he studied the movement of large animals at the zoo to come up with an authentic sense of movement for Chewbacca. Mayhew did not provide the voice of Chewbacca; that was created by the film's sound designer,Ben Burtt, by mixing together the growls of different animals.
Mayhew donned the Chewbacca costume for the last time inThe Force Awakens.
In addition to his work as Chewbacca in the films, he appeared in character in various commercials and for hospital appearances for sick children. Mayhew lived inGranbury,Texas. In an interview with theFort Worth Star Telegram, he jokingly noted that he didn't get a medal at this ceremony either, a reference to theStar Wars scene in which Luke and Han get medals but the Wookiee gets none.
He was kind enough to make a cameo as himself in the Paducah Imperials FanForce feature-lengthfan filmStar Wars Fanboy, scaring offstormtroopers with Wookiee noises, some of which he made himself on set.
Mayhew's family announced that he had passed away onApril 30,2019 in hisNorth Texas home.[1]
Works[]
Filmography[]
Sources[]
Notes and references[]
External links[]
Official website (backup link)- Peter Mayhew onStarWars.com(original site is defunct)
- Peter Mayhew onWikipedia
- Peter Mayhew at theInternet Movie Database
