Kenny Baker - R2D2 has died.

BBC.COM - British actor Kenny Baker, who starred as R2-D2 in six Star Wars films, has died aged 81 after a long illness, his niece has confirmed.

Baker made his name as the robot in the first Star Wars film in 1977 alongside Anthony Daniels's C-3PO character.

Star Wars creator George Lucas paid tribute to a "real gentleman" while Mark Hamill - Luke Skywalker in films - said he had lost "a lifelong friend".

Born in Birmingham, Baker's other films include Time Bandits and Flash Gordon.

After starring in the original Star Wars film he went on to appear in the sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and the three prequels between 1999 and 2005.

He later appeared at Star Wars fan conventions across the world.

Baker's agent Johnny Mans said the actor had been ill for a couple of years.

He said: "Kenny was truly a great friend, one of the nicest guys you could ever wish to meet, and a fabulous and talented performer."

Mans described him as "a one-off" saying he would "never forget the laughs we shared over the years".

"He will be sadly missed," he added.

Now I'm really sad. To top off falling at 4 in the morning and hurting my hip, I now find out that Kenny Baker has died.

He was a large part of my and many other people's childhood. He made R2D2 a real "Person". you could actually tell in the original Star Wars films when Kenny was inside the suit and when it was one of the static or remote controlled R2's. R2's dome sat just a little bit higher when it was Kenny inside, if you paid attention, you could see the gap was a little wider. Maybe an eighth of inch but if you looked closely you could see it. He gave a little "Droid" physical characteristics and emotion, that a R/C model couldn't have.