| Intro | British special effects designer and roboticist |
| A.K.A. | Anthony John Dyson |
| Was |
Artist Computer scientist Scientist Roboticist Visual artist |
| From | United Kingdom |
| Type |
Arts Creativity Technology Science |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 13 April 1947, Dewsbury, Kirklees, West Yorkshire, Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Death |
4 March 2016, Gozo, Malta (aged 68 years) |
| Star sign | Aries |
Anthony John “Tony” Dyson (13 April 1947 – 4 March 2016) was a British SPFX designer, best-known for building the R2-D2 droid model used 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 design of R2-D2 making eight units, six 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 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.