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posted by chromas on Friday May 03 2019, @09:24AM   Printer-friendly
from the Chewieeeee! dept.

Chewbacca Actor Peter Mayhew From ‘Star Wars’ Dies at 74:

“Star Wars” actor Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the original trilogy, died on Tuesday, his family announced on his Twitter. He was 74.

He died at his North Texas home surrounded by his family, read the Twitter statement.

[...] He was discovered by producer Charles H. Schneer while working as a hospital attendant in London, and cast in Ray Harryhausen’s “Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.” The next year, he was cast as Chewbacca, the 200-year-old Wookiee.

[...] His height was not due to gigantism, but he measured 7 feet 3 inches at his highest. George Lucas originally had his eye on bodybuilder David Prowse, but Prowse decided to play Darth Vader instead and Lucas went with the even taller Mayhew.

The Hollywood Reporter notes:

While Mayhew did not provide the voice of the 200-year-old Wookiee (that was created by sound designer Ben Burtt), many credit the body language and the expressiveness of the eyes the actor brought to the role in making Chewbacca a fan favorite. It was a part that Mayhew would take on his whole life and well beyond the movies. He reprised the role for appearances on the Donny and Marie Show and The Muppet Show and, more recently, Glee.

Finnish-born basketball player-turned-actor Joonas Suotamo took over for Mayhew in some installments, including Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) and the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Mayhew worked as a consultant on The Last Jedi (2017) to pass the baton to Suotamo, and at that film's premiere in 2017 spent time chatting with his young protege, as well as Star Wars star Mark Hamill.

"Chewbacca is one of the most iconic characters in the history of film, and Peter's development and portrayal of this beloved Wookiee has spread so much joy around the globe," Suotamo wrote after the casting was announced. "Peter's guidance and kindness have been invaluable gifts which warmed my spirit and prepared me for this journey. I aspire to make Peter proud and bring Star Wars fans the Chewie they know and love."

A private memorial will take place June 29, while in December in Los Angeles there will be a gathering for fans at EmpireConLA. Mayhew is survived by his wife, Angie, and three children.

See also: Twitter announcement

and coverage at The Guardian.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Friday May 03 2019, @01:13PM (7 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday May 03 2019, @01:13PM (#838377) Journal

    It's not so long ago that this announcement would have made me very sad. I loved the moment when Chewie crossed his arms behind his head after Han casually explained to C-3PO that Wookies have been known to tear people's arms out of their sockets when they lose. I laughed when Leia called him a "walking carpet." I even enjoyed the cheesy Tarzan swing with the Ewoks, and emerged from the top of the AT-ST after rescuing the cornered Han and Leia.

    But the prequels and the Disney abominations culminating in the Last Jedi have destroyed this fan's lifelong attachment to the Star Wars universe. I mean, I must have spent ten thousand dollars on action figures, pajamas, bedsheets, travel mugs, bumper stickers, Halloween costumes, video games for Atari, video games on PC, video games on the PS2, video games on the XBox, video games on the PS3 and PS4, and of course the movies. I just loved it all. But now? Nope. Nothing. Not a shred.

    So all I'll say, without any emotion, but for old times' sake: "Farewell, Chewbacca, on your journey to a 'long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. May the Force be with you."

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
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  • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @02:24PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 03 2019, @02:24PM (#838408)

    May the force be with you.

    The 4th May not be with him.

    • (Score: 2) by edIII on Friday May 03 2019, @08:33PM

      by edIII (791) on Friday May 03 2019, @08:33PM (#838547)

      Geez, where is the +5 dark humor mod?

      --
      Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday May 03 2019, @05:47PM (2 children)

    by bob_super (1357) on Friday May 03 2019, @05:47PM (#838474)

    I was highly disappointed by Chewie's introduction scene in "Solo".

    • (Score: 2) by edIII on Friday May 03 2019, @08:35PM (1 child)

      by edIII (791) on Friday May 03 2019, @08:35PM (#838549)

      Why? I had always understood that their relationship started when Han saved Chewie from slavery in the Empire. It tracked with canon as far I understood it.

      --
      Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
      • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday May 03 2019, @08:47PM

        by bob_super (1357) on Friday May 03 2019, @08:47PM (#838554)

        Episodes 5 and 6 already gave us the "hero vs monster who's going to eat him" trope, with a very different outcome.
        Blindly attacking the guy provided by his enslavers (with evidence that he has previously done it and eaten the victim) doesn't exactly fit the character as previously defined. Stopping because he can speak his language was frighteningly close to a "Martha" moment.

  • (Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Saturday May 04 2019, @03:22AM

    by Magic Oddball (3847) on Saturday May 04 2019, @03:22AM (#838695) Journal

    I think the lack of reaction to losses outside our most cherished loved ones might also be something that happens naturally to most of us over the years... In my 20s, the death of anyone who had a major impact on me as a kid/adolescent would've felt like a tragic personal loss, but as I've aged it has gradually taken more and more to affect me. At this point, even losing a childhood idol only provokes a kind of vaguely-sad "yep, shit happens" reaction from me.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 05 2019, @08:35PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 05 2019, @08:35PM (#839350)

    Or the pre-TNG versus post-TNG klingon fans. Set a cutoff date for your canon and fork from there :) I am personally in the same boat as you, and it only took the first prequel and replacing the WEG RPG and Adventure Journal with a slapshod port of D&D3E+2nd Ed Spelljammer rules in order to have a 'complete' and horribly shoddy star wars RPG. And without adequately replacing the Star Wars Adventure Journal it broke some of the community aspect for the truely nerdy/geeky fans who were deep into the minutae and lore of Star Wars.

    Furthermore most authors had carefully worked around every period that Lucas and company had stated were reserved for story fleshing or possible changes made in the future, only to have the midichlorians and then Jango Fett's clone sprung on them, despite having had stories approved for the extended universe covering all of those characters. Whoever the consistency supervisors for Star Wars were at the time, they were doing jobs on par with the supervisors for Star Trek. The only reason that didn't make the inconsistencies worse was the fact that they weren't producing 20-50 episodes a season, but rather one movie every 2-3 years, allowing much less damage on account of far less plot and character development possible in the cinematic medium.

    It really is time to collaborate on a community based sci-fi universe(s) to replace Star Wars and Star Trek. Purge them from the public memory, let the companies owning them go bankrupt, provide a shared outlet for both commercial and non-commercial creative works in a shared universe following a charter or constitution for material to fit into a common canon that everyone can accept, even if some aspects or storylines are not something everyone will like.