Star Wars: Chewbacca script auction halted after family plea

Star Wars memorabilia near successful an attic by Chewbacca prima Peter Mayhew and acceptable for auction is to beryllium returned to his widow aft she issued a nationalist plea.

Scripts and telephone sheets from the films were owed to beryllium sold aft a mates who recovered them successful their loft 25 years aboriginal passed them to auctioneers.

His widow, Angie, pleaded to halt the sale, saying leaving the items was 1 of her husband's "biggest regrets".

Auctioneer Angus Ashworth said helium was "happy" to instrumentality the items.

Writing connected the Peter Mayhew Foundation's Twitter account, Mrs Mayhew said she had antecedently lived successful the spot with her husband, who was 7ft 3in (2.2m), but erstwhile they moved retired his "movement challenges" made it "impossible" for him to get into the attic to cod the items.

She said it was "one of Peter's and my biggest regrets that we had to permission these items behind" and described it arsenic "heart-breaking" to spot them spell up for sale.

Mr Mayhew died aged 74 successful 2019.

Mr Ashworth, based successful Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, explained: "I was approached by a beauteous older mates who were clearing their attic a 4th of a period aft moving into their property.

"The contents of the attic included a container of Star Wars memorabilia, which I thought mightiness beryllium of immoderate involvement to Star Wars fans.

"This wasn't unusual, movie memorabilia comes up for auction each the clip and determination was immoderate consequent property interest.

"The archetypal I knew that the Peter Mayhew Foundation wanted to get it was pursuing a tweet which garnered a batch of misinformed responses."

Mr Ashworth said: "Nobody had approached america to sermon it and had they done truthful I would of people person talked to the vendors.

"The monetary worth of the batch is reasonably modest, but knowing however overmuch it means to the foundation, and fixed that it had been successful the attic for implicit 24 years, the vendors are rather blessed to donate it to the instauration to person permanently wrong their idiosyncratic collection, not for profit, truthful that fans tin entree it successful perpetuity.

"I tin lone apologise to each of the Star Wars fans who had already shown large involvement successful owning a spot of movie history."

Born successful Barnes, London, Mr Mayhew played Wookiee warrior Chewbacca successful Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983).

Despite wellness issues arising from his height, that astatine 1 clip required him to usage a wheelchair, helium returned for the sequels Revenge Of The Sith (2005) and The Force Awakens (2015) earlier handing the relation to Finnish histrion Joonas Suotamo.