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Peter Mayhew shares his favorite vintage Star Wars photos online

Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew delights fans by tweeting some of his favorite candid Star Wars images, with his own personal captions.

Bonnie Burton
Journalist Bonnie Burton writes about movies, TV shows, comics, science and robots. She is the author of the books Live or Die: Survival Hacks, Wizarding World: Movie Magic Amazing Artifacts, The Star Wars Craft Book, Girls Against Girls, Draw Star Wars, Planets in Peril and more! E-mail Bonnie.
Bonnie Burton
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Make a wish, Old Ben!

"Star Wars" actor Peter Mayhew has been giving fans a treat in recent months by tweeting rare, behind-the-scenes photos taken during the production of "A New Hope," "Empire Strikes Back," and "Return of the Jedi," along with his own original captions. Scroll through our gallery for some of the shots he's tweeted most recently, including this glimpse of what it was like to work with the legendary Alec Guinness who played Old Ben Kenobi.

"Celebrating Sir Alec Guinness's birthday in Southern Tunisia. April 2nd, 1977 I believe," Mayhew tweeted.

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The forgotten 'Star Wars' girl

Actor Peter Mayhew shared this photo of "the lovely Koo Stark," who played Camie in "A New Hope," adding that "her scenes didn't make it to the final film."

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Smile for the space slugs!

Those downturned mouth corners can be deceiving. "I have the biggest smile of all on the inside," tweeted Peter Mayhew, the actor who brought Chewbacca to life. "Really."

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Luke looks a bit tired

"You never know how many people are just feet away when you see your favorite shot. It takes a village to make a movie," tweeted actor Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca not only in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, but in the prequel "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith." Mayhew is currently wrapping production on his own film "Standing in the Stars - The Peter Mayhew Story," about the intense series of surgeries he underwent to replace his knees and give him the potential to walk unassisted.

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All hail, Gonk the Power Droid!

Among the photos shared by "Star Wars' actor Peter Mayhew recently are images of his co-stars. Here's "Mr. Jack Purvis relaxing on set" next to the Gonk Power Droid. Purvis played the Chief Jawa in "A New Hope."

"These photos aren't 'unseen,'" Mayhew tweeted of the photos he's been sharing. "They've been out there a long time in various forms. I just been collecting them for 30+ years. Still about 1,200 pics in the archive."

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Before there was Uber...

"Work was sparse, we all had to pick up jobs where we could," actor Peter Mayhew writes. "At least the shuttle was warm."

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Hamill on the cutting room floor

Irvin Kershner, director of "The Empire Strikes Back," "had a fierce way of correcting you when you missed a mark. I look on in terror in the background," actor Peter Mayhew writes.

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The droid we're looking for!

"Kenny about to get into the blender," actor Peter Mayhew of fellow actor Kenny Baker, who played R2-D2 from the inside.

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Jawas look cuter under the hood

"Anthony with Tiffany and Melissa Kurtz, daughters of Gary Kurtz, who played Jawas in A New Hope."

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Let the Wookiee lift!

"Mine, you hear me, all mine! And I'm tall, so nyah nyah!"

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Princess Leia gives the best hugs

"The most luscious princess in the galaxy and an 11-year-old Warwick Davis. I want to be an 11-year-old Warwick Davis."

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"What the heck is a parsec anyway?"

"Long nights of rehearsal were routine," Peter Mayhew wrote on his official Twitter account as TheWookieeRoars. Here, actors Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill study lines that only a space smuggler and Jedi could say.

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Having fun in Hoth!

Actor Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the "Star Wars" films, has been delighting fans recently by tweeting behind-the-scenes photos. "Filming was stopped several times due to someone and their impromptu snowball fights," he wrote of this shot.

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Those Jawas must be tiny

"It's all about perspective."

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Oh hai, hive of scum and villainy!

"This looks like a rough crowd, thought Bob, maybe my argyle sweater was a bad idea," actor Peter Mayhew wrote of the patrons of the Mos Eisley Cantina featured in "A New Hope."

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Tauntaun taxi

"HiYo Silver, AWAY!" Irvin Kershner, director of "The Empire Strikes Back," commutes via tauntaun.

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Watch out for Ewoks!

"The rest of us looked away as Han had a private moment. Everyone but HER."

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Wookiees aren't easy to pick up

"Remember the pics of me lifting Carrie Fisher? She was willing to return the favor," writes Peter Mayhew, aka Chewbacca.

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