R2-D2 (phonetically spelled Artoo-Detoo, and called
"Artoo" for short), is a fictional droid in the
Star Wars universe, an astromech droid. R2-D2 is one of the
four main protagonists to appear in all six Star Wars
films, the others being Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader),
Obi-Wan Kenobi (portrayed by Alec Guinness and Ewan
McGregor), and R2-D2's droid companion C-3PO. R2-D2 was
played by Kenny Baker. The original R2-D2 chassis was
specially created by Australian firm Petric Engineering and
English firm C&L Developments. Many scenes also made use
of radio controlled and CGI versions of the character.