Name: David Prowse
Date of Birth: 1 July 1935 Is a former weightlifting champion. Trained Christopher Reeve for his role in the first Superman (1978) movie. Was the Green Cross Code man, a character used to teach [UK] children how to cross the road safely. Owns a gym "The Dave Prowse Fitness Centre" in London, England, UK. His brother Bob Prowse used to manage it for him before opening his own Health Club in Maidstone. Because of his loftiness, George Lucas hired him to occupy the costume of Darth Vader in Star Wars (1977). But because of his British accent, Lucas chose James Earl Jones as the voice of Vader ... Appeared as a strongman in the famous "Wishing Well" sketch from the first season of "The Benny Hill Show" (1969), which was used by the show's American syndicator to pitch the program to U.S. TV stations. He commented in an interview that he was unaware that his voice been dubbed with that of James Earl Jones' until he saw the movie Star Wars (1977) on opening night. Once complained in an interview that he felt he "wasn't getting any publicity" for his work as Darth Vader. Attended the I Central American Star Wars (1977) Convention at Guatemala City, Guatemala, on 27-28 July 2002, to talk about his character ("Darth Vader") on the first Star Wars trilogy, along with Jeremy Bulloch ("Boba Fett"). Attended Bristol Grammar School, Bristol, England, UK. Actors Julian Glover and Timothy West were in the same year there. When Sebastian Shaw was revealed in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) as the "man behind Darth Vader's mask", Darth Vader became the first recurring role in a movie series to be played by three actors at the same time: body by Prowse, voice by James Earl Jones and face by Sebastian Shaw. He was awarded the M.B.E. (Member of the British Empire) in the 2000 Queen's Millennium Honours List for his services to charity and road safety. He was the special guest at the first Sci-Fi convention in the north west (UK) at Lancaster and Morecambe college on the 3rd October 2004. Despite the fame of Darth Vader, Prowse says that the role he is most proud of is the Green Cross Code Man. He was barred from doing the light-saber duels in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) because he kept breaking the poles that stood in for the laser blades during the first film. The light-saber duels in the sequels were instead done by Bob Anderson, the sword-master who handled the light-saber choreography; in order to make up for the height difference, Bob Anderson wore platform shoes and was often filmed from low angles. Prowse and James Earl Jones have never met in person. Three clips are available on the Star Wars making of documentary DVD of Prowse speaking Darth Vader's lines. Said that of all the directors he worked with while making the Star Wars trilogy Irvin Kershner, who directed Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), was his favorite. David praised Irvin Kershner in an interview for being very helpful and supportive of the actors. Before he entered films, he was a hard working apprentice engineer at BOAC in Bristol. His performance as Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" trilogy is ranked #84 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. He stood over 6' 6". After surgeries and due to his age, he lost several inches. Played part of the aide to Patrick Magee's character in the movie A Clockwork Orange (1971). He was chosen due to the fact that he was able to lift and carry the wheelchair-bound Magee. He said that the director was not known as "one-take Kubrick" and he had to repeat the scene multiple times. At one point, the shooting was halted because the recording technician said that there was a strange noise in the last take. This was discovered to be due to a microphone that was on David and picking up his accelerated heartbeat and heavier breathing. In Casino Royale (1967), he plays a character known only as "Sir". He looks like Frankenstein's Creature, but is never called or credited as such. "Sir" is only in the film a few seconds. Read more David Prowse movies (actor)User Comments |
