Anthony Daniels Anthony Daniels ( born February 21 , 1946 in Salisbury , England ) portrayed the droid C - 3PO in the " Star Wars " films . He is the only actor to be credited to appear in all eight " Star Wars " episodic films , as well as " " and the animated feature " " . Biography . During the production of the , Daniels helped George Lucas develop the character , voice , and mannerisms of C - 3PO . Aside from playing the fussy droid in all eight movies , Daniels has reprised the role frequently over the past three decades . He ' s donned the shiny suit for various promotional work , including hosting " The Making of Star Wars " ; for appearances on " The Muppet Show " and " Sesame Street " ; for " The Star Wars Holiday Special " ; for commercials including Kenner toys , an anti - smoking PSA , and even a breakfast cereal based on the character ; and for prequel tie - ins such as " Star Wars Connections " and " The Science of Star Wars " . He also voiced C - 3PO in a radio drama based on the original trilogy ; for the Christmas - themed " Christmas in the Stars " album ; for the Disneyland theme - park attraction " Star Tours " ; for the animated film " The Lego Movie " ; and for four animated series : " " , " , " , and " Star Wars Rebels " . He provided both narration and all character voices for the " Dark Force Rising " and " The Last Command " audio books . Daniels has a cameo outside of the C - 3PO costume in the Outlander nightclub scene early in as a character named Dannl Faytonni . Faytonni can also be seen at the Galaxies Opera House in . Aside from portraying C - 3PO and Dannl Faytonni , Anthony Daniels also played numerous minor characters such as CZ - 3 in " A New Hope " . The exact number of such characters Daniels played is unknown . He was the only cast member of the original trilogy to voice his character in all three episodes of National Public Radio ' s dramatizations of that trilogy . ( While Mark Hamill voiced Luke Skywalker for both " A New Hope " and " The Empire Strikes Back " , and Billy Dee Williams voiced Lando Calrissian for " The Empire Strikes Back " , when the " Return of the Jedi " adaptation was recorded many years later , Hamill and Williams were replaced by Joshua Fardon and Arye Gross , respectively . ) Daniels also contributed the foreword to the collected scripts of the " Return of the Jedi " radio drama , as their author , Brian Daley , died just as the episodes were being recorded . Daniels ' other " Star Wars " writings include " The New Wonder Column " for " Star Wars Insider " magazine and a comic - book adventure for C - 3PO and R2 - D2 entitled " " , published by Dark Horse Comics . In " The Phantom Menace " , Daniels did the voice work for C - 3PO but did not physically appear in the movie , as the character was a puppet instead of a costume — a prototype version of the protocol droid controlled by someone else . He actually controlled the puppet for 2002 ' s " Attack of the Clones " , but all prototype scenes were cut , with the droid ' s first appearance in the movie being Daniels in costume . In this movie and 2005 ' s " Revenge of the Sith " , he also dubbed the vocal tracks for some scenes that used computer - generated imagery . Daniels was the host and narrator of . Daniels was the voice of in 1978 animated adaptation of " " . He crops up intermittently on British TV in various dramas , notably in a recurring role in " " . He also played the priest in the 1990 British spoof horror film " " . In 1995 , he appeared in " Young Indiana Jones and the Attack of the Hawkmen " , a made - for - TV movie produced by Lucasfilm Ltd . and directed by Ben Burtt .