Heartbreak of Star Wars’ R2-D2’s 5ft 9in secret love child who never met his 3ft 8in robot-playing dad Kenny Baker
Star Wars legend, who died at the age of 81, refused to acknowledge son Shane for 40 years
IT would be prized memorabilia for any Star Wars fan.
But for Shane Townsend, his two signed photos of R2-D2 actor Kenny Baker are a heartbreaking reminder of a family far, far away.
Shane was Kenny’s secret love child — and was kept in the dark for 40 years.
Now, after Kenny’s death earlier this month, Shane has hopes of being accepted into the Baker family.
The 46-year-old, who loved to draw the sci-fi blockbuster’s characters as a kid, told The Sun on Sunday: “It would’ve been great growing up to know R2-D2 was my dad. I could have met him at one of the fan conventions.”
Shane’s mum Yvonne started a relationship with the 3ft 8in actor — eight years before his debut as the robot — after they met in Cleopatra’s nightclub in Bristol in 1969.
She was 18 and he was working as a stand-up comedian.
Within weeks, she was pregnant and told Kenny, who wanted her to have an abortion, that she intended to keep the baby. Kenny left and married wife Eileen a few months after Shane was born in January 1970.
Yvonne, now 65, married former soldier Mike Townsend in 1972 and the family moved to Canada for a new life.
She told Mike who Shane’s real father was but he banned it from ever being discussed because he did not want Shane to be teased growing up.
He even had his name put on Shane’s birth certificate in place of Kenny’s in 1984.
But on Shane’s 40th birthday, Yvonne dropped the bombshell that his real dad was the actor who played R2-D2.
It helped explain why Shane’s daughter Jessica, now 22, is 4ft 8in tall. Shane, who is 5ft 9in, admitted he “never put two and two together”.
The printer, who lives in Georgian Bluffs, Ontario, said: “My mum doesn’t really drink but on that night she’d had a couple of drinks and plucked up some Dutch courage.
“She said to me, ‘Your dad’s not your real dad’. I was shocked but a friend of mine said ‘Yep, I heard that too.’
“There had always been rumours in my family that Kenny Baker was my dad but I had dismissed them before.
“The next day I phoned her and we started talking and she told me my real dad was a midget, that he was Kenny Baker and that she had met him while she was living near Bristol.
“Her uncle did lighting for clubs and he used to take her along when he was working and that’s how she met Kenny.
“My mum said she became pregnant but when she told Kenny he said he wasn’t ready to be a dad and that his career was taking off.
“I was disappointed my mum hadn’t told me as I visited England a few times and could have tried to meet Kenny.”
Birmingham-born Kenny, who has two other sons — Chris, 43, and Kevin, 41 — lived in Preston, Lancs.
Nine months after his mum’s confession Shane plucked up the courage to try to contact Kenny and sent an email to his website.
Two months later, in December 2010, they spoke for the first time on the phone.
Shane recalled: “We spoke through a friend of Kenny’s as he struggled to hear.
“He was shocked but inquisitive. He said he knew I was out there but didn’t know where I went.
“He was very nice and it was good to talk to him. We spoke on several occasions. I planned to visit him and he said that would be nice.
“I asked him whether he had told Kevin and Chris about me and he said, ‘No, but I’m gonna. I just don’t know how to tell them.’”
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After Shane and Kenny spoke, the actor sent him a signed copy of his book From Tiny Acorns: The Kenny Baker story along with the two pictures.
He signed them “Kenny Baker” rather than “Dad”.
But before dad-of-three Shane could visit Kenny — who appeared in the first six films of the blockbuster franchise — he died on August 13, aged 81, following a long illness.
After his death, Shane phoned Kevin but wasn’t well received.
He said: “He was like, ‘I can’t hear you’, so I phoned back and it rang out. I phoned back a day later and left a message.
“He finally phoned me back and asked a few questions. I get where he is coming from. He didn’t know what to say or what to do.
“I asked him when the funeral was and I said my passport was expired so I was unlikely to get a new one in time. He said, ‘Well it’s your right to come over but to be honest with you I think that would be inappropriate’ and I thought that was kind of s**tty.
“I feel like Kenny’s my dad just as much as his dad.”
Shane, who is in the process of appointing a lawyer to help him with the legalities of the DNA test, said: “When I first started trying to find out who my real dad was, I was trying to find out if he was dead or alive.
“But the more I’ve learnt, the more I feel left out and like I got the s**tty end of the stick.
“I lived in a ghetto neighbourhood and these guys were hanging out with famous people.
“I don’t know what to think. My head is spinning.
“I’m worried about doing this but it doesn’t look like my brothers want a relationship with me, which is heartbreaking.
“But I have a right to know who my dad is. I’m prepared to do DNA to prove it.”
Kenny’s funeral was held near Blackpool, with Darth Vader actor David Prowse leading the tributes.
He said: “Kenny was a great man and a great friend.
“He enjoyed life to the full and loved meeting fans around the world.
“R2-D2 was a very popular character and Kenny was always in demand at Star Wars conventions far and wide.
“He will be dearly missed.”
Giving his eulogy, Kenny’s son Chris said: “He was well-loved. Everyone who met him loved him and Dad wanted to give to people.
“I’m sure wherever he is now he will still be giving and making people laugh.
“He was a great dad. He is going to be greatly missed and I want people to enjoy the memory of him.”