Peter Mayhew is an American actor of British descent. Best known to the general public for her role as Chubbaki in the Star Wars movie series. Appeared as a character in all the films of the main saga, as well as in other projects. After filming in the seventh episode, he resigned. In total, he took part in thirty full-length and television projects during his career.
Childhood and youth
Peter Mayhew was born on May 19, 1944 in the city of Barnes, Surrey. The huge growth of the actor is not a consequence of gigantism, as many believe. Despite Peter Mayhew's impressive growth of two meters and twenty centimeters, his head is of normal size, which is a sign of the absence of this disease.
The performer of the role of Chubbaki suffers from Marfan's genetic syndrome, which is a pathology of the connective tissue. After graduating, Peter worked as a paramedic at the Royal College Hospital in London.
Carier start
In 1976, producer Charles H. Schnier accidentally stumbled on a photograph of Peter Mayhew in a magazine article about Britain's tallest people. The film "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" was the first role in the movie for the aspiring actor - he played the minotaur.
As a result, the film was released a year later, and by that time the producer had already found another job for Peter, a role in the science fiction film of the young director George Lucas.
star Wars
Lucas was looking for a high actor for the role of Chewbacca and initially offered the role to bodybuilder David Proiz, but he decided to play Darth Vader. As a result, the role of Han Solo’s ally was given to Mayhew, who, in his own words, in order to get the role, he just had to stand up to his full height. There is also a version that Lucas invited the actors themselves to decide who they want to play, Vader or Chui. Peter wanted to play a hero, and Proyz more liked the image of a villain.
To prepare for the film, Mayhew visited the zoo almost daily, studied the habits of large animals. As a result, the role of Chubbaki became the main one in the filmography of Peter Mayhew, he played the character in all three films of the original trilogy, and later also appeared in prequels. An interesting fact: when Peter fell ill during the filming of the fifth episode, director Irving Kerschner decided to shoot part of the scenes with an understudy in a Chubbaki costume. After Peter returned to duty, the director had to shoot all the material again, since the understudy could not move correctly.
Each of the three films of the original trilogy showed excellent results at the box office, setting many box office records, and has become a real phenomenon for popular culture. In almost an instant, Chewbacca became one of the most recognizable characters in the history of cinema.
Career after
In subsequent years, the actor continued to appear in his famous image in other projects. He took part in the Christmas special episode of Star Wars and the short film Return of the Ewok, and also visited the world-famous Muppets as Chewbacca.
In addition, Mayhew starred in other films. He played small roles in the series Hazel, the British horror film Terror, and the mini-series Dark Towers. He also actively starred in commercials in the image of Chui.
Return to role and resignation
In 1997, in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the premiere of the fourth episode of Star Wars, the MTV Prize presented Peter Mayhew with his Lifetime Achievement Award. The actor did not appear in the first two films of the prequel trilogy of the famous saga, but he received a bit of screen time in the film “Revenge of the Sith”, which, incidentally, was released on the screens on his birthday.
In the following years, Peter became a guest of several popular game and talk shows, acted as a voice actor in the animated series The Clone Wars, and also appeared in the image of Chewbacca in the famous musical series Chorus. When it became known that Disney bought the rights to the Star Wars franchise and was planning to shoot the seventh episode of the saga, it was soon announced that Mayhew would return to his famous image. This might seem to many an already obvious solution, however, it should be noted that in one of the novels of the expanded universe, the character was killed. His return was possible only because Disney recognized the works of the expanded universe as non-canonical.
As a result, the actor played one of the main roles in the film "The Force Awakens", which collected more than two billion dollars at the world box office and received excellent reviews from critics. Nevertheless, Peter could not start filming the eighth episode because of health problems, he resigned from the post of Chewbacca. However, it’s worth noting that in the credits of “The Last Jedi” and the movie “Han Solo. Star Wars: Stories,” Peter is noted as a character advisor.
Today, Peter Mayhew, like many other actors who have become famous thanks to films and series in the genres of science fiction and fantasy, makes his living mainly by traveling on special fan conventions, speaking to the public as a special guest and arranging an autograph session.
The actor also wrote two children's books: “Growing Giant” and “My Beloved Giant”, where he described his childhood and urged children not to offend those who are different from them in appearance.
Personal life and health
Since August 1999, Peter has been married to Angelica Lucker. The couple has no children. In 2005, a British citizen Mayhew completed the procedure for obtaining American citizenship and moved to the city of Boyd, Texas. There he has his own business.
In 2013, the actor underwent surgery on his knees, prostheses were installed for him to ease the load on the joints. After this, Peter is forced to walk with a cane, which was made for him by order in the form of a lightsaber. In 2015, the actor was hospitalized due to complications of pneumonia. In 2018, he reported using social networks that he had surgery on his spine, which would help him move around more easily. Mayhew is undergoing a period of rehabilitation after surgery.
The actor is the founder of a charity named after him. It helps children and adults with serious illnesses, and also works with other foundations to help them promote and advertise.