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Darth Vader - RIP

AgSurfer

Well-Known Member
Aug 9, 2013
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6,219
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Maybe not exactly a wrestling topic, but it could have been. I'm sure a lot of you were sorry to hear about the passing of David Prowse who played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars films. From what I have read about him, he was nothing like his famous character. Everyone who worked with him liked him a lot. Prowse was a weight lifter and body builder, but when I saw a photo of him in his prime, he would have been a great candidate for a heavyweight wrestler. He was about 6'-6" tall and strong as an ox. His height and lean build would have made him well suited to freestyle wrestling, and I'm betting he would have been good if he had gone that route.

He told a story in an interview how Lucas was going to use another stand-in actor to do the scene where Vader picks up the Evil Emperor and throws him over the railing on the 2nd Death Star. Problem was, the stand-in substitute wasn't strong enough to do it. Prowse said he was able to lift up Ian McDiarmid pretty easily, so that cemented who was to do that scene.

RIP David. We will miss you.
 
Great story! It still gives me goosebumps remembering how mind-blowing that scene was to me seeing it "live" in the theater as a kid. I don't know that many in this generation understand the seismic shift caused by the advent of the Star Wars films back in the day. I never stood in a movie theater line that stretched around the block to get into a movie before Star Wars, nor after.

 
I remember as a kid the sheer awe of Lord Vader in the opening scene of E4. Then the absolute joy I got watching my son view the same scene 35 years later. Star Wars is such a great father/son bonder.
 
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