The family of Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the original Star Wars franchise, has announced his death on Twitter on Thursday.
Following roles in the original Star Wars trilogy and episode three of the prequels, Mayhew “fought his way back from being wheelchair-bound to stand tall and portray Chewbacca once more in Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, his family wrote.
Basketball player Joonas Suotamo (who is 6ft 11in tall) took over the role of Chewbacca in more recent Star Wars episodes, sharing the role with Mayhew in The Force Awakens, taking over for The Last Jedi in 2017 with Mayhew acting as a consultant, Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) and the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, currently in post-production.
Mayhew was a minor actor working shifts as a hospital orderly when he was cast as Chewbacca the Wookiee in the first Star Wars film, 1977’s A New Hope.