Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew dies aged 74

Some quite sad news has come out of the Star Wars universe today as Peter Mayhew, the actor who played legendary Star Wars character Chewbacca has passed away.

Before Mayhew begun his journey as Chewbacca he was a hospital orderly, originally George Lucas picked up Mayhew for his height as he comes in a whopping seven foot three (220cm). After the filming of the movies, Mayhew went back to his life at the hospital and then returned to play the character again in The Empire Strikes Back and then Return of the Jedi.

The last time Mayhew was able to play Chewbacca was in The Force Awakens which is family describes as "he fought his way back from being wheelchair-bound to stand tall and portray Chewbacca once more in Star Wars: The Force Awakens." The Force Awakens was the last performance of Chewbacca Mayhew could do before passing away at his home in Texas at the age of 74. Before Mayhew died he handed the role of Chewbacca onto actor Joonas Suotamo, who is expected to play Chewbacca in the next upcoming Star Wars movie, The Rise of Skywalker.