VALLETTA, March 4 (Reuters) - Tony Dyson, a special effects expert who built the Star Wars R2D2 robot, has been found dead in a house he owned on the Maltese island of Gozo, officials said on Friday.

The body of the 68-year-old Briton was discovered after friends alerted police that they had not seen him for a number of days, the Times of Malta reported. There was no immediate suspicion of foul play, the paper said.

Dyson's website said he was commissioned to build eight different versions of the round-domed R2D2 for the Star Wars film. "I can honestly say it was one of the most exciting periods of my life," he said.

The website said he had also built robots for various technology firms, including Sony, Philips and Toshiba.

(Reporting by Christopher Scicluna Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

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