Star Wars’ Chewbacca actor, Peter Mayhew, passes away

Star Wars Chewbacca Peter mayhew han solo

Peter Mayhew, the actor who played Chewbacca in many of the Star Wars films, has passed away. He has portrayed Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He will be missed.

From Peter & Angie’s Facebook page:

The family of Peter Mayhew, with deep love and sadness, regrets to share the news that Peter has passed away. He left us the evening of April 30, 2019 with his family by his side in his North Texas home.

Peter was the man behind the mask of Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy, episode 3 of the prequels, and the New Trilogy. He fought his way back from being wheelchair-bound to stand tall and portray Chewbacca once more in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He also consulted on The Last Jedi in an attempt to teach his successor. He put his heart and soul into the role of Chewbacca and it showed in every frame of the films from his knock kneed running, firing his bowcaster from the hip, his bright blue eyes, down to each subtle movement of his head and mouth. But, to him, the Star Wars family meant so much more to him than a role in a film.

The relationships that began then grew into the friends and family that he would love for decades to come. As the films released and became more well-known he had his eyes opened to the possibilities of what he could achieve with his role in the Star Wars universe. For more than 30 years Peter traveled all over the world spending time with his fans and friends. Peter developed lifelong friendships with the other cast members and his fans while on the convention circuit touching the lives of millions. As he realized over the years the impact he could have, he became heavily involved with the 501st Legion, Wounded Warriors, Make-a-Wish, and other non-profit organizations.

To this end, he established the Peter Mayhew Foundation, supporting everything from individuals and families in crisis situations to food and supplies for children of Venezuela during their recent road to freedom. He not only provided funds but became personally involved with each individual, family and cause he supported.

As he grew older he continued to “soldier on” as he put it and was completely in his element around his fans and supporters. He grew great strength from the energy of his family, friends and the fans he knew and loved.

He is survived by his wife Angie and three children. His kindness, generosity and care will live on in the Peter Mayhew Foundation with Angie taking the helm as his voice.

There will be a memorial service for friends and family held on June 29th and in early December in Los Angeles there will be a memorial for fans set up with his family in attendance, personal effects, and collection at EmpireConLA. For additional information, information on the memorials or to offer condolences email ryan@ReelAppearances.com

Rather than gifts and flowers the family asks that you consider donating to the foundation so that they can continue his efforts to help the community. You can donate at http://petermayhewfoundation.org/make-a-donation.php

Chewbacca’s legacy lives on with Finnish actor Joonas Suotamo, who has played Chewbacca in movies like Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

The post Star Wars’ Chewbacca actor, Peter Mayhew, passes away appeared first on Nerd Reactor.





from Nerd Reactor

0 comments:

Video Games Movies / Film Music Nerd News Star Trek Nerd Trailers DC Comics Sci-Fi Television / TV Comic Books Movie News DC Cinematic Universe Movie Trailers News Comedy / Humor TV News Nintendo Wii Batman Technology Batman v Superman Superman Celebrities Music Videos Comic Strips Syko.org TV Promos Wonder Woman Animation Marvel Comics Social Media Sports Arizona / AZ Stargate Superbowl Football Linkin Park Man of Steel Science Suicide Squad Xbox 360 DC Films Editorials Government Nintendo DS Box Office Comic Book News DC Television Universe Green Lantern Harley Quinn Microsoft Rock News Suns Twitter Videos Basketball Blogosphere Business DC Extended Universe Daily Deals Food / Beverage Marijuana Marvel Cinematic Universe PlayStation 3 Spider-man Staff News Super Bowl 50 The Joker Video of the Day Warner Bros. Web Development Wonder Woman Angry Birds Apple Aquaman Archie Comics Auctions Batgirl Birds of Prey Bizzaro Bizzaro Girl Bluetooth Books Bryan Fuller C4MULA CBS California California / CA Cartoons Chester Bennington Crime Customization DC Entertainment DC TV Dead by Sunrise Deaths Deep Space Nine Ebay Email Facebook Fanmade Features Federation Financial Florida / FL Fringe Gmail Google+ Greg Berlanti Hawkman Health Japan Julien-K Literature Luxury Martian Manhunter Mobile / Wireless Multiplayer Multitouch Music News NSFW Nevada / NV Nintendo 3DS No Warning Operating Systems Orgy PSN Papa Roach Pete's Dragon Press Releases Rap Music Reviews Rockstar Seth Macfarlane Software Software Update Sony Star Trek Beyond Streaming Media Supergirl Syko Sam SykoDeals SykoPoetry Tech News The Avengers The CW The Flash The Flintstones Themes Transportation Trekkers Trekkies Trekspertise United Family Music Voyager Walmart Warehouse 13 Website Tools Windows Windows 10 Windows Media Xbox Live iMac