Chewbacca Actor Undergoes Double Knee-Replacement Surgery

Chewbacca Actor Undergoes Double Knee-Replacement Surgery

Peter Mayhew, who played the fan-favorite Wookie in 4 of the six movies in the Star Wars saga, underwent double knee-replacement surgery at Plaza Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas this past Monday. Could this keep him from reprising the role for Episode VII?

By wookiefit - Sep 11, 2013 04:09 PM EST
Filed Under: Star Wars



Actor Peter Mayhew, who portrayed towering Chewbacca in 4 of the "Star Wars" films, had undergone double knee-replacement surgery at Plaza Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas this past Monday.

His wife, Angie Mayhew, says her 69-year-old husband had the surgery Monday and hopes to walk again. She says her spouse has been using a cane and wheelchair for two years. She also went on to say thats her husband had a tendon-stretching procedure to stabilize his legs.

Some of you may remeber back in June, that Mayhew was stopped by TSA after the Denver Comic-Con. They were worried that his lightsaber might do harm and be considered a weapon. They released it back to him once they realized that it was only a cane.



Peter Mayhew portrayed the lovable Chewbacca in all three original Star Wars movies along with Ep.3 "Revenge of the Sith". Could this operation help him be able to be in the next three Star Wars movies. Yes! Recovery time is between 3-6 months. And with J.J. Abrams working out of Los Angeles for pre-production, and then moving to the Pinewood Studios in London to start shooting at the end of January, this will put him right on track to recover and start shooting.



The British-born actor's medical issues will be the subject of an upcoming documentary, "Standing in the Stars — The Peter Mayhew Story."

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TheManFromMars
TheManFromMars - 9/11/2013, 4:29 PM
TheManFromMars
TheManFromMars - 9/11/2013, 4:33 PM
"Some of you may remeber back in June, that Mayhew was stopped by TSA after the Denver Comic-Con. They were worried that his lightsaber might due harm and be considered a weapon. They released it back to him once they realized that it was only a cane."

I LOL'd
wookiefit
wookiefit - 9/11/2013, 4:43 PM
@ TheManFromMars - being the 1st person to post a Chewbacca pic, you've won a Wookie Cookie.

santoanderson
santoanderson - 9/12/2013, 12:47 AM
Apparently he played Chewbacca in Episode III. Does anyone remember if Chewbacca actually ran or walked around in that movie, or was he mostly stationary?
Ceejay
Ceejay - 9/12/2013, 1:45 AM
CGI Chewie coming right up!
Havensent
Havensent - 9/12/2013, 4:16 AM
I wish him well and no lasting damage.
Danbojohnj
Danbojohnj - 9/12/2013, 4:50 AM
He needs a wookie stunt double if there are any action scenes but I see no reason why they can't have him sat in the falcon cockpit as nature intended.wouldn't be Star Wars without Chewie!
Timerider84
Timerider84 - 9/12/2013, 5:18 AM
The hell you won't, you'll see the difference trust me. He should be okay, with physical therapy and shoot most of his scenes. Just have a stunt Chewie for him running around, close-ups with Peter Mahew. I met him three times, hes a really nice guy.
ParisSun
ParisSun - 9/12/2013, 5:25 AM
Oh cut the crap Timerider84, any old tall guy will do. Thank goodness guys like you don't make financial decisions.

Bring in some guy from the NBA and throw him in the suit or cgi the character like Gollem and get Andy Serkis to do the face for mocap.

Oh btw, isn't mrs. Kloe Kardashian, Lamar Odum, available?
CyberBishop
CyberBishop - 9/12/2013, 5:26 AM
Peter is such a class act and one hell of a nice guy too. He came down here and rode in a parade with us (501st Legion) during Mardi Gras a couple years ago then came back last year for the Mystic Krewe of Chewbacchus as it's grand Marshall. The highlight for me was in 08 when he and my youngest daughter played a game of catch with a football.. He is a fighter and will bounce back from this.
CrispySeaplanes
CrispySeaplanes - 9/12/2013, 6:28 AM
Chewie would be very different with another man in the suit. Chewie's very unique knock-kneed gait and manner of swinging his arms when he walked was all very much the natural way Mr. Mayhew walked. Someone else can do it but they really need to study and practice the movements as they won't come naturally as they did for Mr. Mayhew.
JoshBerger
JoshBerger - 9/12/2013, 7:09 AM
They stopped him because ...his lightsaber could be used as a weapon...and it turned out to be a walking stick.....someone just went full retard.
BTW that's an AWESOME cane.
Timerider84
Timerider84 - 9/12/2013, 7:48 AM
He'll be back, Peter Mathew IS Chewbacca!!! If somebody else replaces him, the acting won't be the same, they will have to study his movements, otherwise, its just another Wookiee on the screen.
wookiefit
wookiefit - 9/12/2013, 9:31 AM
To the Power User that tweaked my headline and teaser, " Thank you". It looks better than what I had.

@ ParisSun - They had pro basketball players play all the wookies in Ep.3 and you could tell they looked different from Peter right away. Peter had a walk and his eyes stood out. Don't know why, he just did it better.

@ santoanderson - He walked and trotted with Yoda on his back, but not a very far distance. Maybe 10-15 feet.

Ryan Ziegler is raising funds for "Standing in the Stars : The Peter Mayhew Story" on Kickstarter.
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