Tony Dyson
Anthony John Dyson (13 April 1947 – 4 March 2016) was a British SPFX designer, best-known for working on the R2-D2 droid props used in the Empire Strikes Back and subsequent films in the "Star Wars" film series. Life. Born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire he visited the private Stratton House School in Abingdon. He started special effects studio The White Horse Toy Company. He was commissioned to fabricate the rebuilt R2-D2 props for the Star Wars sequel, the Empire Strikes Back, based on the designs of Ralph McQuarrie, John Stears and others. His team built around  eight units, many of which were operated by remote control. Two were used by Kenny Baker, and two were stunt double models made for the scene where the droid was shot from the swamp onto the shore on Dagobah. Dyson also created robotics and props for "Superman II, Moonraker", and "Dragonslayer". He also worked on "Saturn 3." In the mid 1980s, he moved with his family to Kissamos on the island of Crete where he created a robotics lab as well as a western themed arcade, where several of his cowboy robots were used as interactive arcade games. In the  1990s, he moved to Malta and founded Turn Page Studios in St. Paul's Bay. He died on the island of Gozo. Awards. Dyson was knighted in the Byzantine Order of the Holy Sepulchre for promoting philanthropic, cultural and ecumenical activities. In 1985, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for a Sony commercial featuring a John Cleese look-alike robot. In 2013 he was honored with the title of Honorary Professor MBA in multimedia for the Stichting Euregio University in the Netherlands.