Peter Mayhew 19 May 194430 April 2019 was a BritishAmerican actor best known for playing Chewbacca in the Star Wars films Mayhew was born on 19 May 1944 in Barnes Surrey where he was also raised His height was a product not of gigantism I dont have the big head but of an overactive pituitary gland secondary to a genetic disease called Marfan Syndrome The overactive pituitary gland was treated successfully in his midteens His peak height was 7 feet 3 inches 221 m