CBR: David Prowse, the Physical Actor Behind Darth Vader, Has Died at 85

[Ravin' Ray]

Actor David Prowse, known for being the physical actor behind Darth Vader in the original Star Wars film trilogy, has passed away. He was 85 years old.


Prowse's passing was confirmed on Twitter by talent agency Bowington Management. "It's with great regret and heart-wrenching sadness for us and million of fans around the world, to announce that our client Dave Prowse MBE has passed away at the age of 85."

More info here.

[Riv86672]

I read about this earlier. Very sad.

I couldn’t help but smile though, as the article mentioned the title of his (2011) autobiography was “Straight from The Force’s Mouth”. That was brilliant.

[Frontier]

RIP Mr. Prowse, and thank you for embodying the physicality and power of one of the most iconic Dark Lords of the Sith.

[ChrisIII]

It's interesting that there was always sort of tense relationship between him and Lucasfilm over the years-Prowse sort of blurted out some of ESB and ROTJ's plot secrets regarding Vader, which was problematic for Lucas; he also felt that too much of the credit/payment went to James Earl Jones and (in some ways) Bob Anderson (Who did Vader's fight scenes).

BTW the circulated photo of an older Prowse in costume seen on some sites (including CBR) is from the VCR game released about twenty years ago I think.

[Frontier]

It's interesting that there was always sort of tense relationship between him and Lucasfilm over the years-Prowse sort of blurted out some of ESB and ROTJ's plot secrets regarding Vader, which was problematic for Lucas; he also felt that too much of the credit/payment went to James Earl Jones and (in some ways) Bob Anderson (Who did Vader's fight scenes).

BTW the circulated photo of an older Prowse in costume seen on some sites is from the VCR game released about twenty years ago I think.

Vader was a truly collaborative effort in my opinion.

[ChrisIII]

He also wasn't too happy that Sebastian Shaw played the unmasked Vader.