He portrayed the character R2-D2 in the Star Wars franchise and also appeared in The Elephant Man, Time Bandits, Willow, Flash Gordon, Amadeus and Labyrinth.

He formed a successful comedy act called The Mini Tones with entertainer Jack Purvis and played in nightclubs.

[4][5] While working with Purvis and the Minitones, Baker was selected by George Lucas to operate the robot ("droid") R2-D2 in the fantasy feature film Star Wars, released in 1977.

[6] Baker recalled that he initially turned down the role,[4] concerned about breaking up the Minitones partnership when the duo had reached the final on the British television talent show Opportunity Knocks.

[7] Baker appears as R2-D2 in six of the episodic theatrical Star Wars films, and played an additional role in 1983's Return of the Jedi as Paploo, the ewok who steals an Imperial speeder bike.

In November 2009, his biography, From Tiny Acorns: The Kenny Baker Story, was written with Ken Mills and published by Writestuff Autographs.

[13] Baker was invited to attend the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Los Angeles in December 2015, but was too ill to travel to the US.