Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew and Anthony Daniels on the set of Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. [Source: BBC Entertainment]
Star Wars memorabilia left in an attic by Chewbacca star Peter Mayhew and set for auction is to be returned to his widow after she issued a public plea.
Scripts and call sheets from the films were due to be sold after a couple who found them in their loft 25 years later passed them to auctioneers.
His widow, Angie, pleaded to halt the sale, saying leaving the items was one of her husband’s “biggest regrets”.
Auctioneer Angus Ashworth said he was “happy” to return the items.
Writing on the Peter Mayhew Foundation’s Twitter account, Mrs Mayhew said she had previously lived on the property with her husband, who was 7ft 3in (2.2m), but when they moved out his “movement challenges” made it “impossible” for him to get into the attic to collect the items.
She said it was “one of Peter’s and my biggest regrets that we had to leave these items behind” and described it as “heart-breaking” to see them go up for sale.
Mr Mayhew died aged 74 in 2019.
Mr Ashworth, based in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, explained: “I was approached by a lovely older couple who were clearing their attic a quarter of a century after moving into their property.
Mr Ashworth said: “Nobody had approached us to discuss it and had they done so I would of course have talked to the vendors.
Mr Ashworth said: “Nobody had approached us to discuss it and had they done so I would of course have talked to the vendors.
Born in Barnes, London, Mr Mayhew played Wookiee warrior Chewbacca in Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983).
Despite health issues arising from his height, which at one time required him to use a wheelchair, he returned for the sequels Revenge Of The Sith (2005) and The Force Awakens (2015) before handing the role to Finnish actor Joonas Suotamo.
