Nationality British | Spouse(s) Orianna (divorced) | |
![]() | ||
Full Name Anthony John Dyson Occupation Special effects designer Notable work Star WarsSuperman IIJames BondSaturn 3Dragon SlayerAltered States Similar Kenny Baker, Frank Sinatra Jr, Morley Safer, Maurice White, Doris Roberts |
Tony dyson s emmy nominated sony robot commercial 1985 voice over w john cleese
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.
Contents
- Tony dyson s emmy nominated sony robot commercial 1985 voice over w john cleese
- Tony dyson r2 d2 s father on bringing robots to life
- Life
- Awards
- References

Tony dyson r2 d2 s father on bringing robots to life
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.

