The Star Wars galaxy has come together to mourn the loss of Peter Mayhew, the actor who brought Chewbacca to life.
Tributes began to pour in from Mayhew's Star Wars family after his death was announced, including from the franchise's creator, George Lucas. "Peter was a wonderful man," Lucas said, The Hollywood Reporter reports. "He was the closest any human being could be to a Wookiee: big heart, gentle nature...and I learned to always let him win. He was a good friend and I'm saddened by his passing."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Mark Hamill celebrated Mayhew as "a big man with an even bigger heart who never failed to make me smile and a loyal friend who I loved dearly," while Billy Dee Williams wrote that Mayhew was "much more than Chewie to me" and "I will miss you, my dear friend."
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy also noted that Mayhew's performance as Chewbacca was "absolutely integral to the character's success," adding that she was "impressed by his kind and gentle nature." The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson praised Mayhew as "a true legend," while The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams said that he was "a sweetheart to work with" and is "already deeply missed."
Mayhew retired from the role of Chewbacca after sharing the screen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens with Joonas Suotamo, who has since taken the character over. Suotamo on Thursday promised fans that Mayhew's "legacy will live on" and that the "spirit that he gave the character when he first donned the suit will never be forgotten."
-
Bluetoothing: the phenomenon driving HIV spike in FijiUnder the Radar ‘Blood-swapping’ between drug users fuelling growing health crisis on Pacific island
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution’ and ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’Feature The many attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and Patricia Lockwood’s struggle with long Covid
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
