Peter Mayhew played the character in all of his live-action appearances from the 1977 original to 2015's The Force Awakens before his retirement from the role.
11 Facts About Peter Mayhew
2.
Peter Mayhew was born on 19 May 1944, in Barnes, Surrey.
3.
Peter Mayhew played the role in the 1978 television film Star Wars Holiday Special and in a 1980 appearance on The Muppet Show.
4.
Peter Mayhew, appearing as Chewbacca, was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the MTV Film Awards 1997.
5.
Outside Star Wars, Mayhew appeared in the 1978 horror film Terror, directed by Norman J Warren.
6.
Peter Mayhew married Mary Angelique "Angie" Luker, a native of Texas, in 1999.
7.
Peter Mayhew became a naturalised citizen of the United States in 2005 at a ceremony in Arlington, Texas.
8.
Peter Mayhew underwent double knee replacement surgery in 2013, having been a full-time wheelchair user for the previous two years and still largely reliant on it at the time of filming The Force Awakens.
9.
In July 2018, Peter Mayhew announced via Twitter that he had successfully undergone unspecified spinal surgery to improve his mobility, and was recovering.
10.
Peter Mayhew died of a heart attack on 30 April 2019, at his home in Boyd, Texas, three weeks before his 75th birthday.
11.
Angie Mayhew passed away from complications of a double heart valve replacement surgery on 1 April 2023, from an announcement on Peter's official Facebook page.