Tony Dyson, a special effects expert who built the Star Wars R2-D2 robot, has been found dead in a house he owned on the Maltese island of Gozo, officials have said.

The body of the 68-year-old Briton was discovered after friends alerted police after they had not seen him for a number of days, the Times of Malta reported.

There was no immediate suspicion of foul play, the newspaper said.

Mr Dyson's website stated he was due to appear at the Malta Comic Con this week, in one of his regular convention appearances.

The website said Mr Dyson was commissioned to build eight different versions of the round-domed R2-D2 for the Star Wars film. "I can honestly say it was one of the most exciting periods of my life," he said.

The loveable droid went on to become one of the most famous cinema robots of all time, featuring in all seven Star Wars films.

Mr Dyson also worked on master molds and an additional head for R2-D2.

This broke down into four remote control units, two units fitted with a seat inside for actor Kenny Baker and two throw away units to be used in the bog scene where the monster spits out R2 onto dry land, from the middle of the swamp.

Tony Dyson was the brains behind iconic Star Wars robot R2-D2. ( Facebook: Tony Dyson )

Mr Dyson's expertise was not only restricted to Star Wars, although he still travelled the world speaking about his work on the film.

His movie credits on his website also listed Superman II, Saturn 3 and Dragon Slayer.

He also was part of the studio team to design and build 36 model spacemen, complete with backpacks, laser guns and clothes for the space scenes in James Bond.

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

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Reuters/ABC