"Star Wars" fans felt a great tremor in the Force (i.e. on social media) Saturday, as they mourned the loss of 81-year-old Kenny Baker, the British actor best-known for operating the droid R2-D2.

Baker, who stood three-foot-eight, died after a long illness. Baker's agent confirmed his death to The Associated Press.

The diminutive actor first climbed into R2-D2's hollow body for the original "Star Wars," in 1977, and went on to appear as the droid in five more films, alongside his more verbose partner, C-3PO.

When news of the death broke, Twitter users offered up a wide range of tributes to Baker, from Star Wars gifs and heartfelt messages to a mix of "bleeps" and "bloops" – the robotic language used by R2-D2 in the films.

Several "Star Wars" actors paid tribute to their former castmate on Twitter. Ewan McGregor, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequel films, tweeted that it was "lovely working with Kenny," and that he is "so sorry to hear about this."

Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, tweeted that Baker "WAS the droid I was looking for!"

 

 

A handful of users also praised him for some of his other roles over the decades.