Anthony Daniels
- This article is about the English actor. For the psychiatrist, see Anthony Daniels (psychiatrist).
Anthony Daniels (born February 21, 1946 in Salisbury, England) is an actor best known for his role as the droid C-3PO in the "Star Wars" series of films made between 1977 and 2005. It is interesting to note that Daniels and Kenny Baker (who played R2-D2 in the series) are the only actors credited as playing the same role in all six of them (although apparently Baker is only in the closing scene of Episode II and does not actually appear in Episode III at all).
Aside from playing the fussy droid in all six movies, Daniels also voiced C-3PO in a radio serial based on the original trilogy and the animated series Droids and Star Wars: Clone Wars. He also had a cameo in the nightclub scene of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones as Lieutenant Dannl Faytonni, the man in blue, who reacted after Obi-Wan strikes the bounty hunter Zam Wesell early in the film. Faytonni can also be seen at the Galaxies Opera House in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Daniels was the voice of Legolas in The Lord of the Rings animated film. He crops up intermittently on British TV in various dramas, notably in a recurring role in Prime Suspect starring Helen Mirren.
Daniels has been politically active in the United Kingdom, but he has kept his politics and his professional life completely separate.
Quoted in the Examiner, Kenny Baker described Anthony Daniels as standoffish. Baker and Daniels have been feuding for three decades. Daniels, now 59, was never friendly to the other actors in the film, either. "Anthony doesn't mix at all," says Baker. "He keeps to himself."
He is 5' 9" (1.75 m). As C-3PO he has planted his 'metal' footprints in the courtyard pavement of Mann's (formerly Graumans's) Chinese Theatre.
He was the guest of honour at the Sci-Fi Congress "Shadowcon 4" in Oslo, Norway, August 1999.
Ironically enough, Anthony Daniels was never a science fiction fan. The only science fiction movie he ever saw in a theatre was 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). He was so disatisfied with the movie that he walked out after only ten minutes and demanded his money back!
Is the only cast member of the Star Wars (1977) trilogy to voice his character in National Public Radio's dramatizations of the trilogy (while Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams voiced their characters for the Empire Strikes Back, they were replaced by Joshua Fardon and Arye Gross, respectively).
As C-3PO, he has the first line in the first Star Wars (Star Wars (1977)) and the last line in the last Star Wars (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)).
In The Phantom Menace (1999) Daniels did the voice work for the character but did not appear in the movie. In 2002's Episode II: Attack of the Clones and 2005's Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, he returned to the screen (in costume) and dubbed the vocal tracks for some scenes that used puppetry.
References
- The Examiner, May 30, 2005.
External links
- Official website
- Anthony Daniels at IMDb
- Multimedia Q&A with Daniels from the BBC website for the Ghosts of Albion