Darth Vader actor passes away

David Prowse, the British actor best known for playing Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, has died at the age of 85, his agents have confirmed, reported Variety.

“It’s with great regret and heart-wrenching sadness for us and millions of fans around the world, to announce that our client Dave Prowse MBE has passed away at the age of 85,” Prowse’s agents Bowington Management tweeted on Sunday.

Born in 1935, Prowse started his career off as a professional weightlifter. He won the British weightlifting championship in 1962 and represented England in the weightlifting category at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane the same year.

Through the course of his career, Prowse played Frankenstein’s monster in Casino Royale (1967), and again in The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974). He played a bodyguard in Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” (1971), where George Lucas spotted him. He auditioned for both Darth Vader and Chewbacca and eventually landed the part of the Sith Lord. However, his accent was deemed unsuitable for the part and while he played the role physically, the voice performance was by James Earl Jones.

Prowse is best remembered for being the man behind Darth Vader’s mask in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope”(1977), Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983). In his later years he was a familiar figure at Star Wars conventions.

His memoir Straight from the Force’s Mouth was published in 2011. The story of his life was told in a 2015 documentary titled I Am Your Father.

Have something to add to the story? Share in the comments below.