![]() This feud resulted in David being banned from all official Star Wars events. Regarding the apparent misled information David received about Vader's voice, promotional neglect and general mistreatment from Lucasfilm. There have been many rumors, disputes and discussions about David's relationship with Star Wars and its staff. Star Wars was perhaps David's most important role and a role that has enlisted him as one of the most memorable character villains of all time. Although David does not voice the character, he is the physical body. David played the role of Darth Vader for the entirety of the original Star Wars trilogy: 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). George asked David why he wanted to play Vader and he replied "Everyone remembers the villain, George." David also had a wealth of experience playing villains in previous films, and was the obvious choice. Instantly turning away the role of Chewbacca, David insisted he play the lead villain Darth Vader. At the meeting, George offered David either the part of Chewbacca or Darth Vader. The film was not considered to be a big thing at the time and the audition was held by director George Lucas. ![]() ![]() It was not until 1977 when David attended an audition for a film entitled Star Wars. He considers this role to be of great importance, and has stated many times that it is possibly the most rewarding job he has held. Proving successful the Green Cross Code Man continued to be a side project throughout David's busy career until the 1990s. The persona saw David traveling the world to give talks, demonstrations and shoot short television spots based on the hero's message. In 1975, David's popularity as a respected fitness guru landed him with the role and duty of the Green Cross Code Man, a superhero designed by the British road safety committee to teach road safety to children. From 1967 to 1977, David enjoyed a quiet, but very successful career within film and television starring in such films as A Clockwork Orange (1971), Up Pompeii (1971) and numerous Hammer House of Horror films, gaining a vast and bulky CV. Although the casting was based on David's stature, David developed a strong interest in acting and decided to pursue it further. After appearing on various broadcast sporting events, David was offered a role in the feature film Casino Royale (1967) as "Frankenstein's Monster". Over this period of competitive weightlifting, David became lifelong friends with actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, who at the time were not professional actors but rival competitors. Eventually, David won the British heavyweight weightlifting title and gained status as a highly regarded and respected member of the fitness community. As a child, David was disadvantaged and a poor student, he found a passion for bodybuilding and weight training in his early teens, as a young adult, David often entered weightlifting competitions and contested in the famous Mr. He was raised by his mother and never knew his father. Of course with the later casting of Hayden Christensen as the young Anakin, the age would have been about right.David "Dave" Prowse was born into a working class family on 1 July, 1935 in Bristol, England, UK. ![]() James Earl Jones is to a degree the opposite - he has an amazing voice, and although a more accomplished actor than Prowse, does not have the right bodybuilder physical presence and is (only) 6 foot 2 inches tall.įinally, why Sebastian Shaw and not Prowse for the final scene with Vader? They may have thought that Prowse, only in his late 40's, might look a little too young to be Luke's father, and the accent would have been too striking a difference to the 'in helmet' voice. He was also from the UK where many of the scenes involving Vader were made. However David Prowse was a body-builder, had acting experience so he had the right look at 6 foot 6 inches tall. To many ears this sounds a little parochial - most people would think this more the accent for a farmer than a galactic enforcer for the Emperor, however unfair that comparison might be. He is from Bristol in the UK, and has a Bristolian accent, what would be described as in the UK as a 'west country accent'. David Prowse definitely did not have the right voice. ![]()
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