It’s with a heavy heart that TechStomper has to come to terms with losing one of the biggest (Literally, 6′ 6″ in his prime) Acting, Fitness and Star Wars Fan Favourite David Prowse. From humble beginnings to becoming pop culture’s biggest villain, let’s take a look into the career of David Prowse in celebration.
David Prowse, The Physical Darth Vader
As a youth, David found his passion for weight lifting and bodybuilding. When reaching adulthood, Prowse would be seen entering weightlifting competitions/going for broke in Mr. Universe competitions. Before long, he one of the most successful beefcakes in his field. His regular spots on televised sporting events would lead to his first acting gig in as “Frankenstein’s Monster” in ‘Casino Royale’ (1967)
Although David was typecast, he would build on his acting career with credits in various Hammer House Horrors and other notable appearances, such as ‘A Clockwork Orange’. David’s proudest moment as an actor was becoming a safety icon as ‘The Green Cross Code Man’ in 1975, leading right up to 1990.
Stop, Look and Listen!
Designed by the British Road Safety Committee, Prowse was the beacon of road safety to children. This work included short TV infomercials, various talks and demonstrations worldwide. David always said it was the most rewarding job of his career. A true testament to the nature of the now well-known fitness icon.
Whilst David had cut out a great career for himself without it, his biggest film role was acquired by attending an audition for ‘Star Wars’ (1977). George Lucas gave Prowse the choice of Chewbacca or Darth Vader, to which he replied the latter. When Lucas asked why he picked Vader, Prowse replied: “Everyone always remembers the Villan”.
He wasn’t wrong. Becoming the embodiment of evil for millions of fans, Prowse became Darth Vader physically for the whole original trilogy. Although the two have never met face-to-face, James Earl Jones was hired to voice Vader.
This wasn’t the only time Prowse’s portrayal of Vader was diminished. He was barred from using Lightsaber props whilst filming ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ (1980) due to breaking so many.
Ruckus At The Ranch
David Prowse was banned from attending official Star Wars events in 2010 as a result of a plot leak getting into The Daily Mail’s hands, months before ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ began filming. Prowse was quoted stating: “Father can’t kill son, son can’t kill father, so they live again to star in Star Wars IV.”
Prowse always stood by the fact that he didn’t know any of the script details, which is true. Only George Lucas, Director Irvin Kershner, Mark Hamill and in Post-Production James Earl Jones knew. It was later revealed that a film crew member was responsible for leaking the information. Lucasfilm never lifted the ban, with Lucas stating that Prowse had “Burnt too many bridges”, Prowse however enjoyed attending unofficial events.
A Fan of the Fans
The Vader actor is known more prominently today as being the warm personality at con-booths. He would regularly sit for eight hours straight signing autographs without a toilet or meal break. Prowse always took pride in looking after his and Star Wars fans.
The best way to end this article would be to share his comments when asked why it wasn’t his face when Darth Vader was finally unmasked in ‘Return of the Jedi’ (1983). It’s a true testament to his character. We wish David’s family our condolences in these dark times:
Everybody comes up and says, ‘It wasn’t you they unmasked as Darth Vader, was it?’ and I say, ‘Well, no, it wasn’t actually.’ The guy that played Darth Vader was a guy called Sebastian Shaw and Sebastian Shaw was a good friend of Alec Guinness’s and, by all accounts, he was out of work. He’d been out of work for a long period and he was having a bad time financially.
And he said to Sir Alec, ‘Could you do me a favour?’ He said, ‘I’m destitute. Is there any chance of you having a word with George Lucas to see if there’s a possibility of a part in this movie?’ So Alec had a word with George and George said, ‘The only part we can offer you is the dying Darth Vader.’ And all this was done without me knowing anything about it.
I mean, I’m watching the movie and they unmask somebody completely different and then you sort of think, ‘Well, why wasn’t that me?’ But then, when you learn how it all came about, you know, if it helped him in any way, then all well and good. But everybody comes up to me and says, ‘Why wasn’t it you that was unmasked as Darth Vader?’ And I say, ‘I’ll tell you about it later.’
