David Prowse - the Man Behind Darth Vader's Mask
David Prowse is the man who played the Darth Vader character in the original Star Wars trilogy. He was born on July 1, 1935 in the UK and became a bodybuilder, weightlifter and an actor. When he was casted for the Darth Vader character he was 6 ft 6 in (198cm) high and weighed 265 lbs (120kg). Today he's 72 years old.
When filming the original Star Wars movie Prowse spoke all Darth Vader dialogues - but this voice wasn't scary and dark enough, so that Star Wars creator George Lucas finally decided to overdub it during post-production, which lead to the famous Darth Vader voice by actor James Earl Jones. Nevertheless, David Prowse continued to speak the dialogues in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return Of the Jedi" so that filming and acting would remain easy for everyone involved.
The most impressive scene in the entire Star Wars saga is probably the one where Darth Vader reveals to Luke that he is this real father (in fact, Luke had been told by Obi-Wan Kenobi that his father had been murdered by Vader). Lucas absolutely wanted to keep this a secret as long as possible, therefore the script given to all actors and the filming crew contained a false page where Darth Vader told Luke that it was Obi-Wan Kenobi who killed his father.
Only producer Gary Kurtz and director Irvin Kershner had been informed by George Lucas about the false plot. Moments before the scene was filmed, Mark Hamill, the actor playing Luke, was told the truth by Kershner, who encouraged him to ignore the dialogue Prowse was speaking. The real lines were later spoken by James Earl Jones in post production. Nobody told David Prowse or any other crew members about the plot change, and they must have been quite surprised during the film premiere.
Unfortunately David Prowse didn't play the fully-armored Darth Vader in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and he has not been included in recent reunions of the original cast.
About the Author
Jos Kirps is the creator of several software and web projects, including Galaxiki, a fictional galaxy where site members can get their own solar system and the Open Source CorneliOS webOS.
Volkswagen Commercial: The Force
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