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Emotional Peter Mayhew tribute tweet has fans in floods of tears

Peter Mayhew (Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Peter Mayhew (Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

The death of Peter Mayhew, the actor who played Chewbacca, has hit the world of Star Wars fandom hard.

Twitter is currently awash with tributes to the towering star, who died at the age of 74 following a heart attack.

But one tweet in particular has sent fans over the edge.

Read now: Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew dies at 74

It comes direct from Mayhew’s own account, in response to a Time magazine article reporting on Harrison Ford’s farewell words for his old friend.

“I loved him,” reads part of the headline from Time, to which Mayhew’s account, called @TheWookieeRoars, replies: “He knew.”

From being awash with tributes, Twitter’s now awash with tears.

Many of those Mayhew knew from Star Wars and beyond have been paying tribute to him all morning, since news of his death broke late last night.

Ford said: “I and millions of others will never forget Peter and what he gave us all. My thoughts are with his dear wife Angie and his children. Rest easy, my dear friend.”

Mark Hamill called him ‘the gentlest of giants’, and said he was ‘a better man for having known him’.

Hundreds of other movie folk have also paid tribute to him.

George Lucas called him ‘the closest any human being could be to a Wookiee: big heart, gentle nature . . . and I learned to always let him win. He was a good friend and I’m saddened by his passing’.

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A post shared by Billie Lourd (@praisethelourd) on May 2, 2019 at 6:04pm PDT

He is survived by his wife Angie, and his three children.