Tony Dyson: Special effects expert who created R2D2 for Star Wars series dies aged 68
Dyson also worked on several other films and built robots for major companies
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Your support makes all the difference.Tony Dyson, the creator of R2D2 has died aged 68.
He was found dead in his house on the Maltese island of Gozo according to officials. The Times of Malta reported the death and said there was no immediate suspicion of foul play.
Police found his body after friends contacted local authorities after becoming concerned when they hadn’t seen him for a number of days, reports the paper.
Dyson was a special effects expert and was commissioned to build eight versions of the beloved Star Wars character for the original film series.
He called his time working on the project “one of the most exciting periods of my life”.
According to the BBC, Dyson, who was nominated for an Emmy for his special effects supervision, also worked on Superman II, Moonraker and Dragon Slayer.
Dyson also built robots for technology companies including Sony, Philips and Toshiba.
More recently he enjoyed a career as a motivational speaker.
Additional reporting by Reuters.
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