Disney Issues Statement on Passing of Star Wars Actor Peter Mayhew

Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger sent off Star Wars legend Peter Mayhew on Twitter Thursday after it was confirmed by Mayhew's camp the Chewbacca star died April 30 aged 74.

"The @WaltDisneyCo mourns the loss of our beloved #chewbacca portrayer, #PeterMayhew," Iger tweeted. "Peter was larger than life in so many ways...a gentle giant playing a gentle giant. Rest in peace."

The @WaltDisneyCo mourns the loss of our beloved #chewbacca portrayer, #PeterMayhew. Peter was larger than life in so many ways...a gentle giant playing a gentle giant. Rest in peace.

— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) May 2, 2019

Mayhew was also remembered as "the gentlest of giants" by Luke Skywalker star Mark Hamill, who hailed the towering actor as "a big man with an even bigger heart who never failed to make me smile & a loyal friend who I loved dearly."

"I'm grateful for the memories we shared & I'm a better man for just having known him," Hamill wrote.

"He put his heart and soul into the role of Chewbacca and it showed in ever 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," a statement released by Mayhew's family reads in part.

"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."

A semi-retired Mayhew, who portrayed Chewbacca between 1977-1983 across the original Star Wars trilogy and again in 2005's Revenge of the Sith, last reprised the role in Disney's franchise relaunch The Force Awakens in 2015. There he shared the role with double Joonas Suotamo, who fully inherited the role for 2017's The Last Jedi and 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Mayhew is survived by his three children and wife Angelique, who will continue to head the Peter Mayhew Foundation, founded to alleviate "disease, pain, suffering, and financial toll" caused by harrowing events.

Disney, through its Lucasfilm banner, next releases the J.J. Abrams-directed Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker December 20.

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