Peter Mayhew, the 7-foot-2 actor who brought the character Chewbacca to life in all of the "Star Wars" movies, missed a weekend appearance in Texas after being hospitalized for pneumonia.
Mayhew, 70, who is reprising his role as Hans Solo's sidekick again in the latest installment in the franchise "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," became ill and canceled a showing at Madness Games Comics in the Dallas suburb of Plano, according to
TMZ and the
Dallas Morning News.
"Peter is indeed in the hospital with pneumonia," wrote his wife Angie Mayhew on
Reddit. "He will make a full recovery, and hope to be discharged within a few days. Doctors are incredibly happy with his improvements. Sorry for the absence, we left our tablets at home, so we have been unable to post to Reddit for a bit. I'll make sure he pops in later in the day."
Mayhew's webmaster also posted a note for the actor on Twitter.
The Morning News reported that Mike Quinn, who played the Ewok character Nien Nunb in the "Return of the Jedi" signed autographs during the Madness Games Comics event that Mayhew couldn't attend.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was voted the most anticipated picture of 2015 in Fandango's annual survey of the eagerly awaited pictures of the upcoming year,
according to Entertainment Weekly.
The picture, which will bring back most of the original "Star Wars" characters with a new group of stars and villains, is slated to hit theaters Dec. 18.
The new "Star Wars" beat out other expected 2015 box office juggernauts "The Avengers: Age of Ultron," which is scheduled for theaters on May 1, "Mockingjay, Part 2," which is part of the "Hunger Games" franchise, slated for Nov. 20, and "Fifty Shades of Grey," which will make to the movie screen on Feb. 13.
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