Ken
Baker (24th August 1934 to 13th August 2016)
You’d think everything related to the Star Wars films would be American but
Ken Baker who played R2D2 in the first six films lived in Preston, Lancashire.
When he lost his life to a lung condition aged 81 he was cremated here at
Lytham Cemetery, Lancashire. Here I am where he was turned to ashes and some of
him was sent up into space.
He was born in Birmingham but didn’t
really grow up...ever. Though his parents were of normal height he stopped growing
when he reached 3ft 8 inches (1.12 metres.) As his dad was an artist and
musician and his mum was a pianist and musician it’s no surprise he didn’t end up
being a road sweeper. While at boarding school in Kent his parents split up. He
ended up going to live with his dad and stepmother and half-sister in Hastings,
Sussex.
Aged 17 a woman in the street approached
him and invited him to join a theatrical troupe of dwarves and midgets. You bet
he was interested and this was his first taste of show business. From here he
went on to join a circus for a brief time, learned to ice skate and appeared in
many ice shows. He formed comedy act called The Minitones
with entertainer Jack Purvis and they toured the nightclub circuit.
While touring the nightclubs Kenny was
approached by film director George Lucas to operate a “droid” robot in the
science fiction film called with a working title of Star
Wars. Kenny didn’t like the sound of it at all - a mini machine that beeps
and whistles? No thanks. Eventually he accepted it and oddly the role that
meant nobody could see him made him famous across the globe.
Aged 36 he married actress Eileen Baker
(who he met while filming Wombling Free) and
they remained together for twenty-three year until she died of epilepsy. Eileen
was also a dwarf but their two sons grew to average heights.
Kenny was
R2-D2 in six of the episodic theatrical Star
Wars films and played an additional role in 1983's Return of the Jedi as Paploo, the Ewok
who steals an Imperial speeder bike. Though he’s known for being R2D2 he
appeared in other well-loved films though the 1980s, including The Elephant Man, Time Bandits, Willow
and Flash Gordon.
Aged 81 he was
invited to attend the premiere of Star
Wars: The Force Awakens in Los Angeles but he was a poorly man and needed a
wheelchair (he managed to attend the film's premiere in London.) He’d spent the
last decades of life living in Ashton-on-Ribble in
Preston with his partner Valerie Gale.
He died on
13th August 2016, a few days before his 82nd birthday. Probate records state he
left £328,771 most of which went to sons Chris and Kevin. A man came forward to
insist Kenny was his dad from a brief relationship with his mum Yvonne (before
he married.) Yvonne claimed she’d met Kenny in a nightclub in Bristol eight
years before he became famous as R2D2. On her son’s fortieth birthday she told
him Kenny was his blood dad and they spoke a few times for six years before the
actor died. Publically Kenny’s family said it was all nonsense but I suppose
we’ll never know the truth.
Here I am at
the crematorium where the funeral service was held. The service could have
taken place at Ken’s home town of Birmingham but his final wish was to be
cremated outside his hometown because he disliked the crematorium building and
surroundings. A special request was made that Star Wars fans did not arrive in costumes.
The coffin arrived
in a Rolls Royce and Ken was piped into the chapel by the Royal Tank Regiment
playing Scotland the Brave. Among the
songs played during the service were Nat King Cole's Stardust and Willie Nelson's On
The Road Again. Darth Vader actor David attended the funeral to ensure the
force went with the diminutive actor. George Lucas film and Disney sent a
message: 'You brought so much joy to the Star Wars family'.
The diddy dude
had done well bearing in mind doctors predicted his dwarfism meant he was unlikely
to live passed puberty. He was 81 when his nephew - who had been looking after
him - found him dead one Saturday morning.
Here he comes…
