David prowes

David Charles Prowse (Bristol, July 1, 1935 – London, November 28, 2020) was a British bodybuilder, weightlifter and actor, known particularly for his physical portrayal of the character Darth Vader in the Star Wars film saga (voiced by James Earl Jones), filmed between 1976 and 1982. In 2015, he starred in a documentary titled I Am Your Father (“I am your father”) about his experience during the filming of Star Wars. Prior to his role as Vader, Prowse became famous in the United Kingdom for being part of the Green Cross Code advertising campaign for pedestrian traffic education. In appreciation of his altruistic contribution to road safety, he was honored by the Queen Elizabeth II as a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

Darth Vader

He was chosen for this role because of his physical build (2.01 meters tall and 118 kg in weight), but George Lucas decided to do without his voice, recording that of actor James Earl Jones over Prowse's. As Prowse himself later declared, he did not know of this substitution until the film's premiere session.

Lucas stated that he wanted the character of Vader to have a "darker" which Prowse was not able to provide and which he never intended to use Prowse's original voice. In an interview filmed in 2004, Carrie Fisher, the actress who played Princess Leia in the same saga, stated that Prowse was nicknamed "Darth Farmer" (a play on words including the term 'farmer') due to his unintimidating West of England accent.

In the final lightsaber fight scenes between Vader and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in Return of the Jedi (1983) Prowse, who was not a very skilled swordsman (he kept breaking the rods getting in the way of lightsabers), was replaced in the match by scene choreographer, stuntman, and fencing coach Bob Anderson.

Similarly, Prowse was replaced by British actor Sebastian Shaw as the character behind the mask in said film, although Shaw only participated for a few brief minutes in his own voice.

An inconsistent scene in the 2004 remastered edition occurs when Shaw is replaced by a young Anakin Skywalker as a Force ghost without the usual black suit from the first trilogy (role assumed by Hayden Christensen in the more recent saga), just to give continuity to the story.

Thus, Prowse's voice and face do not appear in any of the three films in which he starred.

For this reason, in 2015, in the documentary "I am your father" it is assumed that the final scene of the death of Darth Vader played by David Prowse was recorded although this scene was never broadcast because Lucasfilm did not give its permission. David died without seeing that scene in which he was the man behind the mask of Darth Vader come to light.

Other papers

In the UK, Prowse was previously known for his role in the 'Green Man' educational campaign, which taught children how to cross the road safely, and which remained active from 1971 to 1990. David Prowse received the Order of the British Empire in 2000 as a reward for his civic effort.

He also had a role as a bodyguard in A Clockwork Orange (1971). He played Frankenstein's Monster on three occasions: Casino Royale (1967), The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974).

In 2015 Toni Bestard and Marcos Cabotà premiered the documentary "I Am Your Father" where they explain the reason for the elimination of David Prowse in the credits of the mythical Star Wars saga, in the form of a well-deserved tribute to the unknown face of the interpreter of Darth Vader.

Other activities

David Prowse trained Christopher Reeve for his role in the first Superman film (1978). He was a many-time British weightlifting champion, and represented his country at the 1962 Commonwealth Games (then called the British Empire and Commonwealth Games), held in Perth, Australia.

He was in a sketch on the Benny Hill show around 1969.

He owns a gym in London.

Since his participation in the Star Wars saga, David Prowse has withdrawn from the world of cinema and has concentrated on his gym, as well as doing charities for children and cancer patients.

Health problems

Prowse suffered from arthritis for most of his life. His first symptoms appeared when he was thirteen years old, although they seemed to disappear while he was engaged in professional weightlifting. However, in 1990 they reappeared, leading him to undergo several surgeries.

In 2001, his left arm was paralyzed and soon after his right arm was paralyzed as well. From that moment on, she collaborated with different organizations for arthritis sufferers in the United Kingdom.

In March 2009, he revealed to the London media that he had prostate cancer.

Death

She died in a London hospital on November 28, 2020, aged 85, after a brief unspecified illness.

Partial filmography