Peter Mayhew

The defining embodiment of Chewbacca, Peter Mayhew brought the 200-year-old Wookiee warrior vividly to life with his 7ft 3in frame, born of pituitary gigantism and rumoured to be linked to Marfan syndrome. He was exactly what Star Wars creator George Lucas had in mind for the role. Lucas had initially approached Dave Prowse, who instead went on to play Darth Vader, leaving the part to Mayhew, who rose to overnight success as the saga’s shaggy hero in 1977.

Mr Mayhew’s path to fame began “feet first”, when a local London journalist photographed his unusually large feet. At the time, he was working as an orderly at King’s College Hospital in London, and the photograph, published in a local paper, caught the attention of a film producer. By a circuitous route, it led to his casting in Star Wars.

Perfect for the role of Chewie in Star Wars, the lovable, even cuddly counterpart to Harrison Ford’s intergalactic smuggler Han Solo, Mr Mayhew prepared by studying the movements of bears, monkeys and gorillas at his local zoo, shaping the physicality of the character he would soon inhabit beneath layers of yak hair.

Whilst Star Wars played to enraptured audiences, Mr Mayhew was still mopping hospital floors in London, earning a living as an orderly, his height put to practical use changing light bulbs. From 1977 onwards, however, he would spend much of his life behind that curtain of hair, rescuing Han Solo in feats of derring-do.

As he later observed: “If you look around your office, how many people had a teddy bear or a security blanket as a child? That’s what Chewie is, he looks after everybody.”

It was said that Peter Mayhew (1944 - 2014) had Marfan syndrome in his obituaries but this has since been disputed and remains unresolved.

(Thank you to Zoe Ridgeway for conjuring Peter Mayhew in your wonderful art).