`CHEWBACCA' APPROVES OF CRAZY `STAR WARS' FANS ANTICS

`CHEWBACCA' APPROVES OF CRAZY `STAR WARS' FANS ANTICS

WEST YORKSHIRE, England (Wireless Flash) -- Those crazy "Star Wars" fans lining up for tickets are getting a big hairy thumbs up from the man who played Chewbacca. British actor Peter Mayhew, who portrayed the woolly Wookiee in the first three "Star Wars" movies, says he thinks its totally "cool" that the fans are so fanatic. Mayhew particularly loves the fact that some fervent fans are flying to America from other countries just so they can see the film first. The nearly 7 1/2-foot-tall actor will be doing the same -- he's flying from England to Plano, Texas, to attend a sci-fi expo the weekend after the movie opens. Mayhew says he has mostly fond memories of making the "Star Wars" films -- except the time he had to carry C-3P0's 50-pound body on his back during the final scenes in "The Empire Strikes Back." Even that wasn't too bad thanks to his previous job as a hospital attendant which required him to lift patients and turn them over in their beds.

CONTACT: Peter Mayhew, ****; Arrange thru Doug Murray; Orlando, FL; (904) 532-5605