Tuesday, March 30. 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 5
Star Wars hype lands in Kansas
Convention draws R2-D2 actor, fans
Kenny Baker is the actor who played R2-D2 in Star Wars. Contributed photo
By Dan Curry
dcurry@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
R2.D2 is smarter than C.3PO.
So concluded an authority no less than Kenny Baker, the actor who squeezed inside the tubby little droid of Star Wars fame — the beeping, chirping confidant of Luke Skywalker.
Baker did not beep or squeak at Saturday's Planet Comic comic book convention at the Overland Park International Trade Center.
With a brace of security guards in full-body Klingon apparel brooding in the background, Baker paced across the stage in a maroon turtleneck and navy pants and fielded questions from a buzzing audience of rhaponic Star Wars fans, comic book traders and memorabilia collectors, who had each paid $8 to attend.
"He's a clever little fellow," Baker said, responding to an audience question. "[C-3PO] thinks he's smarter than me, but he's not really."
Baker, who will reprise his role as R2-D2 in the forthcoming prequel The Phantom Menace, is the only actor to return from the original Star Wars cast.
The R2-D2 gig is a hard role to beat. Baker said.
"You don't want to be looking for work all the time," Baker said. "I'm not contracted. They just presume
I'll be there."
Baker said it was a close fit inside R2-D2 for him but that the costume was a cakewalk compared to an Ewok's, another role Baker took in Return of the Jedi.
The Ewok costume, which included layers of pajamas, foam rubber, fur skin, beats and bullets, was unbearable. Baker said.
"If you fell over, you couldn't get up again," he said.
During the shooting of the movie, the set was full of sweating, tumbling Ewoks, he said.
"I don't think I could be an Ewok again if they paid me," he said.
While Baker was speaking, Star Wars collectibles were being bought and sold for hundreds of dollars.
A toy AT-AT, an Imperial assault walker, in the original box was priced at $150. A Hain Solo figure cost $55, R2-D2 was $20.
Baker, an English actor, said he left school at age 16 and began performing in cabaret shows. Later, he had roles in Time Bands, Amadeus and, most recently, Willow.
Dean Phillips, owner of Krypton Comics in Omaha, Neb., said that he had been selling a lot of Star Wars memorabilia.
"A lot of that Star Wars stuff used to be on clearance," he said. "A lot of times it devalues. It can double the next day if it's a popular item."
Phillips said he had sold Star Wars toys for as much as $600 at conventions and other collectibles for as much as $3,000.
After his talk, Baker autographed items for fans, selling his signature for $6 a shot to people who had waited an hour in line.
A star-struck fan leaned in close to Baker and said, "You were in some of the greatest movies ever made."
Eating a pumpernickel bagel as he signed the man's photograph, Baker nodded devoutly, and then asked his assistant if she was keeping track of how many photos they'd sold.
Students, staff prepare museum nature workshops
Edited by Kelli Roybern
By Jennifer Roush
jrush@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Spring has sprung at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum.
The workshops will cover topics such as fish, fossils and mammals and will range in price from $10 to $16 and meet at Dyche Hall.
The first of the museum's Spring Weekend workshops were offered during spring break and will continue through May 9.
Most of the people who present work
shops are graduate students who work at the museum with some teachers and museum staff, said Dena Podrebarac, public education specialist at the museum.
Cory Ruedebusch, Wichita graduate student, will present "Mammals All Set to Get Wet," from 1:30 to 3 p.m., Sunday, April 18. The workshop is about mammals that live in the water year round.
"My favorite thing to teach about is mammals," she said. "So if a mammal opportunity comes up, they look at me."
Ruedebusch also said that she
enjoyed working with children and would like to become a science teacher after she finished her master's degree.
Since 1968, the museum's education department has offered the workshops every year, said Podrebarac.
She said that the workshops usually were aimed at children between the ages of 4 and 12, but some of them required adult-child pairs.
The museum sends a brochure called "Good Stuff" to museum members and people who have participated in past workshops. Podrebara said that the museum also relied on word-of-mouth
publicity to inform them.
Chris Fletitz, Park Ridge, III., graduate student, will present a field trip program called "Stream Search," which involves a field trip to a local stream to catch and study fish.
He said that he had been conducting the workshops on and off for about three years.
"It's good experience working with the public, even if it is just kids," he said.
For more information about the workshops, call 864-4173.
— Edited by Melody Ard
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