Peter Mayhew was a film editor with many credits to his name, the best known being the 1955 feature The Colditz Story, a British stiff-upper-lip war drama touched with humour. He was also my father — a gentle man with a strong sense of social justice and a ‘bon vivant’ with a very dry wit. The actor who portrayed ‘Chewbacca’ in Star Wars shared his name, and I know my father would have appreciated that the IMDb lists him as Peter Mayhew (I)[i] and the man in the Wookiee suit as Peter Mayhew (II).
My father died suddenly in 1980, aged just 51. I knew little about his early life except that, during the war, he was evacuated with his older brother and sister to Funtington, near Chichester — a time he always remembered as positive. After the war, he never returned to live with his birth parents, instead choosing an unconventional lifestyle in West London pursuing his film career. a career in the film industry. I was young when he died, so I never fully got to know him. But I want my children and grandchildren to know his story and see how a single decision can echo down generations, shaping each of our lives in ways we may never fully understand.
Read more:
The Tooting Years
an extraordinary family story begins in 20th century Tooting
Evacuated to Funtington (Pt 1)
some children evacuated from London faced uncertainty but adapted well
Evacuated to Funtington (Pt 2)
evacuees at Funtington experience a harsh winter and wartime challenges
After the war
life in the immediate post-war years, National Service, and a career in the British film industry
The Kensington Years
a holiday visit results in an unconventional household and emotional challenges
[i] https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0562678/ last accessed 21 Oct 2021
