Original Darth Vader David Prowse Dies at Age of 85

The famous British bodybuilder and actor David Prowse passed away yesterday, Saturday, November 28th in London, the United Kingdom at the age of 85.

Before becoming an actor, Prowse was a professional weightlifter; he won the British heavyweight weightlifting championship in 1962 before proceeding to win the title the following two years. He also represented England in the weightlifting event at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games held in Perth, Western Australia.

Prowse’s first big role before playing Darth Vader was the Green Cross Code Man, a hero who encouraged children’s safe street crossing in a governmental public service campaign.

The Star Wars director George Lucas asked Prowse to audition for Star Wars after watching the actor in Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 movie “A Clockwork Orange”. After he was granted a role, the actor was offered the choice to either play Darth Vader or Chewbacca. He then went ahead and chose Darth Vader because apparently “you always remember the bad guy.”

Despite the fact that Prowse played Darth Vader in “Star Wars”, “The Empire Strikes Back”, and “Return of the Jedi” and said all of Vader’s lines, his voice never made it in any of the trilogy’s movies and James Earl Jones’ voice was dubbed into the movies after the shooting.

The former bodybuilder retired in 2016 due to some health issues and according to The New York Times; his wife Norma Scammell, and their three children were what made him survive.