Talk:Kenny Baker (English actor)

Background

what was needed to play R2D2? did he pull lots of levers and press buttons to make things work? Kingturtle 06:33 9 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I had also wondered that, it just looks like a simple robot rolling back and forth with blinking lights. It looks cute, but it is hard to see why a human was needed... =S

Was R2-D2 in all 6 Star Wars films and was Danny Baker in the robot suit in all 6. I'm presuming he didn't do R2-D2s voice. --Dumbo1 00:54, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Whenever R2 wasn't rolling, Kenny was inside. He turned the dome, activated the lights and armatures, some special effects (e.g. spurting the mud in The Empire Strikes Back) and wobbling (e.g. when portraying R2's "anxiety" when he detects the sandpeople in A New Hope). The remote controls of the period were barely able to get the robotic version to work, so it was essential that there be someone inside for these operations. As a result, he ended up giving R2 a real sense of character. PacificBoy 17:34, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

It was "Kenny Baker," and yes, he played R2-D2 in all 6 "Star Wars" films. The "voice" was provided by Ben Burtt, making "baby sounds," and then synthesized through a computer. 72.49.106.198 05:22, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

There are other notables with this name.Two who come to mind are a cartoonist and a distinguished English jazz trumpeter and band leader who died in 1999. 82.47.176.254 21:41, 17 August 2006 (UTC)mikeL

He did not play R2-D2 in all six movies, he was only in the first five. Episode 3 used a completely remote controlled robot. He was credited out of respect perhaps, but really shouldn't have been. The article does have it right as of now but it needs to be here too. 68.210.57.15 (talk) 21:49, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

"Though both he and his wife have dwarfism, their two sons do not."

I don't have a source, but I believe "little" couples' children *can't* also be little.

---

Well I went to school with one of his sons, and while he wasn't the tallest kid in the year, he certainly couldn't be classed as "dwarfist" at all.

If two people with achondroplastic dwarfism have children, each pregnancy has: 1 in 4 chance of a doubly affected infant, who will not survive, 2 in 4 chance of a child with achondroplastic dwarfism, 1 in 4 chance of non affected child, whose own children will also be unaffected.

And yes, in this case their 2 sons are unaffected. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.67.1.235 (talk) 00:25, August 24, 2007 (UTC)

Hi, I went to school with one of his sons as well !! Did you go to Little Reddings? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.205.198.22 (talk) 10:47, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

payment for R2 role

It would be interesting to know how well Baker was compensated for his Star Wars roles. R2D2 is a primary character but it seems like it would hard for Baker to negotiate a huge salary; since you don't see his face or heard his voice, he'd be more replacable than someone like Harrison Ford. ike9898 17:29, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Born in 1924 or 1934???

His personal website gives his year of birth as 1934. But this page here on Wikipedia gives it as 1924. Which is it? Steven (talk) 20:58, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

This website may have given his birthdate as 1924 when Ratherthanlater made the above posting in March of 2008, but, as of today, August 24, 2009, this page gives it as 1934. Bbcsg (talk) 18:25, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

Late wife

Does anyone know what his wife's name was? It should be included in the article.Mynameisnotpj (talk) 16:44, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

Hi I am Chris Kenny's Eldest son And her name was Eileen — Preceding unsigned comment added by Darthsuma (talk • contribs) 21:29, 25 May 2011 (UTC) A lovely family, knew Chris whilst at college doing my hairdressing years ago sad about your mum Kathy xx — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.108.134.170 (talk) 17:21, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Recovering in hospital?

Kenny Baker was apparently recovering in hospital on Wednesday night (9/4/08) after being struck by a mystery illness. Reportedly became ill as he was returning to England from his holiday in America. - Woogyman (talk) 14:59, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

BBC attests this as being asthma related, can someone add to article please? I'll do it if it's not here soonish. Scanna (talk) 22:33, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Death

According to this German website he died yesterday. --Havelbaude (talk) 09:45, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Apparently the website is wrong, since Baker is "a lot better" (but still in hospital) today [1]. — ^PDD 11:49, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Edit

Removed information saying he will not appear in Clone Wars. It's a CG film. NO ONE will be appearing in Clone Wars. 67.86.17.13 (talk) 02:22, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Sheila Allen (English actress) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 09:14, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

There's too many choppy sentences!

It seems to be a recurring trend on poorly written Wikipedia articles that: where clauses that should have been connected by commas or semicolons, are instead replaced by periods. The fact that I'm saying this indicates that this page for Kenny Baker is no exception, so can someone please fix the "period problem" (Alludes for awesome alliterations!)? Thanks.

Wiki nol ege █[:]====▶• 02:28, 1 August 2015 (UTC)

Quote by George Lucas about Baker's death

Hey, StarWars.com posted this when Kenny Baker passed away today. It includes quotes from George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy. -- Gestrid (talk) 21:17, 13 August 2016 (UTC)

Gestrid, do you want me to add it into the article?--NadirAli نادر علی (talk) 04:58, 15 August 2016 (UTC)

Secret love child

[2] should we add the news of his secret son to the article?--NadirAli نادر علی (talk) 19:37, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

Is The Sun the only source of that claim? It seems like tabloid click-bait material. Baltakatei (talk) 01:24, 4 July 2019 (UTC)