Star Wars honors man who gave life to Chewie

Peter Mayhew’s official Twitter account posted the sad news earlier today about the EnglishAmerican actor passing away last Tuesday, April 30, four days before the worldwide celebration of May the Fourth.

Mayhew was working as a medical orderly before George Lucas first casted him as the iconic big and furry wookie Chewbacca in the first Star Wars film in 1977. Since then, he has reprised the role four more times in Star Wars movies—The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), Revenge of the Sith (2005), and The Force Awakens (2015)—as well as in other media, including the latest Battlefront video game, the 2011 Clone Wars TV series, a 1987 short called Star Tours, and three other shows.

Chewbacca, Mayhew would say, changed him. It was a different kind of acting, which had more of the acting than speaking because his character didn’t speak English and he was always inside the furry costume. But, as he has said on more than one occasion, Star Wars “has been the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Here’s what those he worked with in the sci-fi classic have to say about Peter Mayhew.

George Lucas (in a statement): “Peter was a wonderful man. He was the closest any human being could be to a Wookiee: big heart, gentle nature... and I learned to always let him win.”

Harrison Ford (in a statement): “Peter Mayhew was a kind and gentle man, possessed of great dignity and noble character. These aspects of his own personality, plus his wit and grace, he brought to Chewbacca.”

Mark Hamill: “He was the gentlest of giants–A big man with an even bigger heart who never failed to make me smile."

Joonas Suotamo: “Rest assured his legacy will live on and the spirit he gave the character when he first donned the suit will never be forgotten.”