Professor Tony Dyson, the British creator of the droid R2-D2, has been found dead at his home on the Maltese island of Gozo, police said. Neighbours raised the alert after noticing that the front door of the 68-year-old's apartment in Triq Zirzieb had been left open. Police said they had opened an inquiry into the cause of death but that foul play had been ruled out.
Dyson, who had lived in Malta since the early 1990s, also worked on a number of other Hollywood films including and . He was nominated for an Emmy for his film special effects supervision.
Built by Dyson, based on art work by and 's Ralph McQuarrie, the R2-DT character appeared in all the films.
