David Prowse, the original Darth Vader, dies at 85



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Prowse died after a short illness, according to his agent Thomas Bowington. CNN reported in 2018 that Prowse was being treated for prostate cancer.

“It is with great regret and heartbreaking sadness for us and millions of fans around the world to announce that our client DAVE PROWSE MBE has passed away at the age of 85,” Bowington Management said on Sunday on Twitter.

“May the force be with him, always!” his former agent, Thomas Bowington, said in a statement to the BBC.

“Although famous for playing many monsters – for myself, and for anyone who knew Dave and worked with him, he was a hero in our lives.”

Prowse wore the black suit and helmet to play Darth Vader, but actor James Earl Jones provided the character’s voice. Prowse’s English West Country accent was deemed inappropriate for the role.

Dave Prowse in his role as Green Cross Code Man, with students at Lambeth Johanna Primary School in London.

But it was his role as the ‘Green Cross Code Man’ from a UK road safety campaign that Prowse said he was most proud of. He was awarded an MBE – a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire – in 2000 for this role.

Prowse was born into a working class family and raised on a municipal estate in Southmead, in the south west of England. He got a scholarship to attend Bristol Grammar School.

He was passionate about bodybuilding and was crowned British weightlifting champion several times in the 1960s. He became long-time friends with actors Arnold Schwarzenegger during his weightlifting years, according to the IMDb site.

His large physique and towering figure have helped him land roles as monsters and villains in TV shows and movies. He played the monster in “The Horror of Frankenstein” in 1970 and a bearded torturer in “Carry on Henry” in 1971. The same year he made an appearance as a bodyguard in the Stanley Kubrick dystopian film ” A Clockwork Orange “in 1971.

He went on to play Darth Vader in the three original “Star Wars” films, in 1977, 1980 and 1983.

Health and fitness remained an interest for Prowse, who also worked as a personal trainer for actors playing the role of Superman, including Christopher Reeve, and wrote a book called “Fitness is Fun.”

He published an autobiography, “Straight from the Force’s Mouth,” in 2011.

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