The first Star Wars film – Episode IV: A New Hope, was released on 27th December 1977. This retroactively entitled movie was followed by the sequels Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), forming the original Star Wars trilogy. As everyone knows they went on to become a phenomenal success worldwide.
For the 20th anniversary of Star War,
Words & Images duo Rob and Ann arranged to go down to London to meet up
with Star War’s arch villain, Darth Vader – alias Dave Prowse. The
resulting article was featured in the December 1996 edition of sci-fi magazine Infinity
– yes Rob and Ann have been working together that long!
We met up with Dave Prowse at his London gym where we
chatted over a mug of tea. He was a great host, very friendly and easy to talk
to. He made us so welcome. A tragedy that he is no longer with us.
So, for Star Wars fans, here’s a re-print of
the article:
Star Wars – Twenty Years On.
Doom is where the Darth is!
Can you imagine the evil Darth Vader lecturing on road
safety? Or Frankenstein’s monster signing autographs for little children? Maybe
not. But Ann Evans discovers that these good deeds are all in a day’s work for
the man who played them: gentle giant Dave Prowse…
When Darth Vader was unmasked in Return of the Jedi,
we finally saw the face of the sad old man who professed to be Luke Skywalker’s
father. But it was a bit of a shock to the millions of devoted Star Wars
fans who knew that the person really behind that black dome was six -foot seven
muscleman, movie actor Dave Prowse.
Twenty years on, the real Darth Vader is looking a whole lot more sprightly than he did in his movie swansong. We tracked him across galaxies and universes to his gymnasium, just south of the River Thames in Borough, London, where Dave reveals that the face belonged to an actor called Sebastian Shaw.
“Everyone knew I was Darth Vader,” says Dave. “But
when he was unmasked, there was someone else. It really was the dirtiest trick.
But then Return of the Jedi was a terrible movie to work on, unlike Star
Wars and The Empire Strikes Back – they were terrific.”
However, even the original Star Wars brought
some disappointment. “Originally I was going to do everything,” he recalls. “I
did the dialogue all through the movie and was supposed to re-do it in the
studio to improve the sound quality, but at the last minute they dubbed in the
voice of an American actor, James Earl Jones. I was very annoyed about that.”
But apart from those upsets, Dave loved working on the Star Wars films, and creating the character of Darth Vader. “I was virtually left alone to do what I wanted. There would be a few stage directions, like you come in that door and go out the other one, but all the actions and mannerisms of Darth Vader were mine. No one told me what to do. The makers of the film were very concerned that stunts were carried out safely, however, and they brought in a fencing coach who taught me to fence for the laser sword fight scenes. I did all the fighting in the first film, half in the second but none in the third; the fencing coach did all the scenes in Return of the Jedi.”
Monkey Suit or Mask?
Dave has never had an acting lesson in his life. But in fact, he was originally given the choice of two parts in Star Wars, after being spotted in A Clockwork Orange playing a beefy bodyguard.
“They offered me Chewbacca first,” said Dave. “But I
didn’t fancy walking around in a monkey suit all day. I asked what the other
part was and they said it was Darth Vader, the villain of the film. So, I said,
“Right I’ll have that part,” which was probably the best decision I’ve ever
made. People always remember the baddie, don’t they?”
The film turned out to be the biggest money maker of
all time, taking a staggering £600 million. But during the filming none of the
cast could foresee the tremendous impact Star Wars was to have on
audiences (and popular culture).
“We thought we were making a load of rubbish! laughs
Dave. “Mind you, the makers obviously had faith in it. No one spends £22
million on a film if they don’t think it’s going to be any good.”
Location scenes were filmed in Tunisia, the rest was
shot at Elstree Studios. Many of the props were scaled down models which the
actors didn’t get to see at all. But not all. “We had a full-size Millennium
Falcon for example. But when you see me in my cockpit, twiddling all the knobs,
what you don’t see is eight blokes outside, rocking it and shaking it like mad!
“People used to say, I bet you had a wild time,
partying. But we had no social life at all. I was up at 5am, had a two-hour
drive from my home in Croydon to Elstree. From 8.30am to 5pm I worked on the
film, then it was back to run the gym and do my own training. There was no time
for parties.”
Dave has no souvenirs from the filming of Star Wars.
After spending five months working on the film he was just glad to get it all
over and done with. And by the time The Empire Strikes Back started, Star
Wars was such a colossal hit that security on the film set was really
tight. “No one was allowed in or out,” he explains. “Even if you wanted to take
anything out as a memento, you couldn’t. They were paranoid about it.”
Dave recalls that Star Wars fever had a
marvellous effect on his career. Offers of work came rolling in including a
12-part BBC TV series, Confessions and Carry On films, and even a role in
Shakespeare’s As You Like It. On top of this there were guest
appearances on such classic comedy shows as Benny Hill, Stanley Baxter
and the Morecambe and Wise Show. “I played Eric and Ernie four times,”
grins Dave. “It was a bit of an accolade to be invited to appear in one of the
plays wot Ernie wrote!”
Falling on his feet
Dave never set out to be an actor. As a young man he
had just one ambition – to become Mr Universe. “I was 6ft 5 inches and 11 stone!
So I decided to put weight on. By the time I left school, all I wanted to do
was lift weights. I started buying body building magazines and had pictures on
my wall of Steve Reeves, Hercules in the movies, who I admired for 44
years before eventually getting to meet him. My sole purpose in life was doing
weightlifting and body building.”
Dave got up to 20 stone and became British Heavyweight
Lifting Champion, a title he held for three years – 1962, 1963 and 1964. He
also did the Highland Games for three years and became the first person ever to
simultaneously lift the famous Scottish Dinnie Stones which weigh 340lb and
445lb a piece. Eventually he held six different British records, all the while
striving to achieve his main ambition.
Then came shattering news. “I was told by one of the
competition judges that I’d never become Mr Universe. At 6ft 7ins and 26 stone
I asked why wouldn’t I? And was told it was because I’d got claw toes. You can
work on practically every part of your body to improve it – but there’s not a
lot you can do about the shape of your feet!”
With his ambitions shattered, Dave had to change
direction. “I thought, if I’m doing all this training, I may as well try and
get some money out of it, so I turned professional and became Britain’s
Strongest Man, touring around, demonstrating physical feats of strength.
From this he was offered his first job in acting, in a
play at the Mermaid Theatre where they needed someone to walk on stage and pick
an actor up off the floor. Hardly award-winning stuff but it got him his union
ticket. Other parts followed including Jabawaki in The Rose Medallion
and Casino Royale with David Niven. He got his first starring role in Space
1999 and went on to play Frankenstein’s monster in two Hammer chillers made
in the early 70s. “They were great fun,” recalls Dave. “If fact it was funnier
playing in horror films than in comedy when often the comedian would be so
wound up trying to be funny that he wasn’t – with the exception of Kenny Williams,
he had me in stitches every time he opened his mouth.”
Darth in Disguise
Dave says that the most satisfying work he has
undertaken during the last two decades is his role as the Green Cross Code Man.
“The Government offered me a decent contract to devote myself entirely to the
Green Cross Code for seven months a year, touring all over the world, talking
with kids. You’d go to school to give a talk and with Star Wars being on
then, the kids wouldn’t think it was the Green Cross Code man talking to them,
they all knew it was really Darth Vader in disguise in a superman suit! All the
questions would be about Darth Vader – never any about road safety!”
Dave also made a record for children, called Stop,
Look, Listen and Think. “I sang it to my daughter as Stop, Look, Listen
and Stink! And that’s what caught on. All the kids sang it and it stuck in
their minds. They’ve probably passed it on to their kids.”
At the end of 1989 Dave had an accident with some
weights and he had to have a hip replacement operation. While getting over that
he suffered a fall in the gym and damaged his ankle, necessitating another
operation. “The most important thing for myself was to carry on doing the Green
Cross Code Man,” said Dave. “But being barely able to walk – well you couldn’t
have Darth or the Green Cross Code Man on a walking stick. So I would sneak
into school, get changed and hide until I could get to a stool in the hall, and
then the children would all come to me. I’d be able to stand for a while and
they’d come and I’d sign autographs, then once they’d gone I could sneak out
again on my sticks.
“For 14 years I was the Green Cross Code Man. During
that time, we reduced the number of accidents by half from over 40,000 to less
than 20,000 a year. I visited 700 cities throughout the world, worked in 2,000
schools and talked to half a million children.”
Dave is still currently troubled by health problems,
fearing that a replacement operation may be necessary on his other hip. Up
until last year (1976) he was in a surgical boot and calliper. But it doesn’t
stop him regularly working out at the gym which he has run for the last 26
years. Nor does it prevent him touring the world attending science fiction
conventions – he has recently concluded ‘The Bad Guys Tour’ with Gunnar Hansen,
who played Leatherface the psychotic killer in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
As well as working on a book about his life. Dave is
also looking forward to the re-release of the Star Wars trilogy next
year (1978) and the making of another three Star Wars films – with a
1999 release date for the first. “George Lucas is writing the new scripts now.
He was waiting until the technical side – animation, special effects and so on
– reached the stages it has now, before making another film, because he wants
it to be really spectacular. And yes, I do really hope to be involved in the
next three films. I would very much like to do it if I’m offered the role.
“Choosing to play Darth in the original Star Wars
was probably the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. After all, you might
not remember the goody in a film – but no one will ever forget Darth Vader.”
Next time:
Rob and Ann join Dave Prowse and Gunnar Hansen for lunch in Coventry.
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