Stuart Freeborn

Stuart Freeborn, born on September 5, 1914, and passing away on February 5, 2013, served as the makeup supervisor for the Star Wars original trilogy. George Lucas, the director, employed him after being greatly impressed by Freeborn's makeup effects artistry in the 1968 motion picture 2001: A Space Odyssey. He contributed his talents to all three films in the trilogy, as well as the Holiday Special. Freeborn held the responsibility of transforming Peter Mayhew into the iconic character Chewbacca. He received instructions to craft a creature embodying a fusion of a dog and a cat. The monkey-man creatures he previously worked on for 2001: A Space Odyssey served as inspiration. Prominent examples of his work include the diverse creatures populating the Mos Eisley Cantina, as well as Yoda, Chewbacca, and Jabba the Hutt. Initially, he modeled Yoda's face after his own, but he felt the designs lacked the profound wisdom befitting the character. Consequently, he combined his facial features with those of Albert Einstein. His wife, Kay Freeborn, and son, Graham Freeborn, also worked as makeup artists. It's possible that Orn Free Taa was named in his honor.