Leslie Dilley, who has died aged 84 after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, won the first of two Oscars as an art director for his work on the original 1977 Star Wars film. His creation, the much-loved little robotic droid R2-D2, with a silver and blue dome head and rocket boosters that enabled him to fly through space, appeared on screen for more than 40 years (1977-2019), spanning the first three movies and both the prequel and sequel trilogies.
He recalled the “head-scratching” challenge in those pre-CGI days. “We started out with a cardboard drum, added cardboard arms and then tried to walk it,” he said. First he built different versions based on conceptual designs drawn by Ralph McQuarrie. Then Dilley, along with the director, George Lucas, and John Barry, the production designer on the first movie (which was later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope), decided to go with one that would allow a human – short in stature – to step inside, walk and operate it. “We brought in some actors who we thought would work, but many of them just weren’t strong enough,” Dilley told Star Wars Insider magazine. Eventually, Kenny Baker auditioned and fitted the role – and the prop.
