To offer clarity at the outset, the nine major Star Wars films are the nine theatrically released live-action films with Roman numerals in the titles that make up what is known as the Skywalker saga. They were released in pieces of three, which is why they are called three separate, individual trilogies. There are Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, which together form what is commonly known as original trilogy. After that came Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, which make up the prequel trilogy. Finally, there are "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens," "Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi," and "Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker," which were produced after Disney bought by Lucasfilm in 2012 and were called the sequel trilogy.

These titles should be clearly placed, as a crazy collectionist will be happy to remind readers that there are several additional Star Wars films in the franchise. Some would count The Star Wars Holiday Special as a TV movie, while the two Ewok movies from 1984 and 1985 were released theatrically overseas. Some deep-seated obsessives would even like to count the 1986 animated TV special "Droids: The Great Heep" as an additional film, however obscure. There's also the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars (what Star Wars creator George Lucas had to deliver to sell the Clone Wars TV show to Cartoon Network), as well as the spin-off films Rogue One and Solo (both subtitled A Star Wars Story).

All in all, it can be argued that there have been a total of 16 Star Wars films.

For the purposes of this article, however, only the Skywalker Saga films will be counted. Indeed, as it happens, only one actor appeared in all nine of those films. That would be Anthony Daniels, the British actor who played the brass-colored droid C-3PO. The character himself is a protocol droid often used to translate non-English, foreign languages ​​(though he's also been known to express fearful misgivings about the adventures ahead).

Prior to working on the Star Wars franchise, Daniels was a voice actor for BBC Radio and appeared in several productions at London's Young Vic Theatre. While working on projects there, Lucas (then a young filmmaker) approached him to appear in his new sci-fi film. Daniels admitted he felt insulted by the offerpartly because he was not a fan of science fiction at the time. He still decided to try for the role of C-3PO, but "A New Hope" became the actor's first feature film.

Not only did Daniels get the job, but it would soon take over the bulk of his career, with C-3PO becoming a steady, regular acting gig for him for many decades. After all, Daniels has spent most of his screen career wearing a face-obscuring robot mask.

Not only did Daniels play the persnickety droid in the main nine Star Wars films, but he also reprized the role for The Holiday Special, The Big Heap and Rogue One. C-3PO wasn't in Solo: A Star Wars Story, but Daniels appeared in it anywayplaying a character named Tak.

The main Star Wars films are, of course, only a small percentage of the times Daniels played C-3PO. He also portrayed the droid in Donnie and Marie, The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and the 50th Academy Awards, in addition to The LEGO Movie and more than a dozen other TV shows. Off screen, he narrated audio books as C-3PO, lent his voice to video games, appeared as himself in Star Wars documentaries, and did voice work for Star Wars theme park rides. He even played C-3PO in the very obscure 1980 record "Christmas in the Stars: The Star Wars Christmas Album". (Yes, it's real.)

Daniels is not only the only actor to have appeared in all nine major Star Wars films, but he is also the single most ubiquitous presence in the history of the franchise. No other actor received more work from Lucasfilm. Daniels, now 78, will likely wear the C-3PO suit for as long as he can get away with it.