Also see: C3PO & R2D2 and C-3PO with R2-D2 Kenneth "Kenny" Baker (born 24 August 1934) is a British dwarf actor and occasional musician, known as the man inside R2-D2 in the popular Star Wars film series. Kenneth Baker, who stands 3 ft 8 in (112 cm) tall, was a circus and cabaret performer with entertainer Jack Purvis when George Lucas hired him to be the man inside R2-D2 in Star Wars in 1977. R2-D2 (phonetically spelled Artoo-Detoo or Artoo-Deetoo) (called "Artoo" for short)