Happy Birthday, David Prowse

July 1, 2011 at 12:01 am | Posted in 501st, Movies, Star Wars News | Leave a comment
Tags: darth vader, david prowse

Today at Roqoo Depot, we wish a very happy birthday to Lord Vader himself, actor David Prowse. Mr. Prowse portrayed the iconic Darth Vader in all three of the original films: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. He also played parts in memorable films like A Clockwork Orange, Vampire Circus, and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, which also starred his fellow Star Wars actor Peter Cushing (who played Grand Moff Tarkin, and this was prior to A New Hope!). Aside from film, David is the honorary leader of the 501st Legion and is the vice-president of the Physically Handicapped and Able-bodied Association.

On having to choose between playing Darth Vader and Chewbacca in Star Wars… “I took the part of the villain because everyone remembers the villain.”

As Star Wars fans our favorite role of David Prowse is of course that of Darth Vader. The 6’6″ actor played the man behind the suit, and though his voice was never used in the films, he did say the lines during filming with the other actors. Interestingly enough the famous scene in The Empire Strikes Back when Vader reveals to Luke that “I am your father”, the only people who knew the secret were George Lucas, Mark Hamill, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan (screenwriter), and Gary Kurtz (producer). Right before the scene was filmed, Mark Hamill was taken aside and told the secret. When the shot was filmed, David Prowse delivered a different set of lines in the script which indicated that Obi-Wan had murdered his father, not knowing that the dialogue would later be changed.

If you’d like to find out more about David Prowse, you can visit his official website here.

Posted By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot. For the latest Star Wars news.