Peter Mayhew (born May 19, 1944) is an English actor known for playing the Wookiee Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies. His peak height was 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 m) tall.
Mayhew was born in Barnes, London, England, five days after Star Wars creator George Lucas. Before getting into acting, Mayhew worked as a porter at London's King's College Hospital.
He received his first acting job in 1977 when the producers of the movie Sinbad and the Eye of the...
more
Peter Mayhew (born May 19, 1944) is an English actor known for playing the Wookiee Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies. His peak height was 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 m) tall.
Mayhew was born in Barnes, London, England, five days after Star Wars creator George Lucas. Before getting into acting, Mayhew worked as a porter at London's King's College Hospital.
He received his first acting job in 1977 when the producers of the movie Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger discovered Mayhew from a photograph in a newspaper article about men with large feet, and they cast him in the role of the minotaur.
When casting roles for his first Star Wars film, producer George Lucas needed a tall actor who could fit the role for the beastly Chewbacca. He originally had in mind 6 ft 6 in bodybuilder David Prowse, but Prowse was instead cast to play the role of Darth Vader. This led Lucas on a search which turned up Mayhew, who says that all he had to do to be cast in the role of Chewbacca was stand up. He reprised...
less
