When you think of Darth Vader what comes to mind? His imposing form? His booming voice? His powerful strides? Two out of those three things are thanks to actor David Prowse.

Above Image: David Prowse in Darth Vader costume


Actor James Earl Jones is the voice of Darth Vader, but 77-year-old David Prowse wore the costume in the original Star Wars films. It was his powerful performance and imposing 6' 6" build that brought Darth Vader to life.

There are some things about the man that most people don't know.

If you think you know everything about Star Wars, then read on to find out more about the man behind the mask: David Prowse.


8. Prowse Bench-Pressed the Emperor

Vader uses the little-known "Force Wedgie" David Prowse Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

In the film Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), when they went to film the scene of Darth Vader throwing the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid) into the shaft, they weren't using David Prowse. Most of the scenes in Return of the Jedi were done using old footage and stunt doubles. He was sitting around the studio watching his stunt double get suited up for the scene. But the stunt double was a tall skinny guy, while Prowse is the British weightlifting champion. They spent an entire week trying to shoot the scene and he was getting fed up. He went up to director Richard Marquand and said, "Look, I can do this in one shot." Marquand said, "What do you mean you can do this in one take?"

Prowse remembers, "So on the following Monday, I got dressed up, everything was ready, and I picked him up like I was lifting a barbell. I put him across my chest, took a couple steps towards the balcony and threw him over! [Laughs] All in one shot. The whole thing was ridiculous."


7. Prowse Saved the Lives of Thousands of Children 

David Prowse as "Green Cross Code Man"

In the 1970s, Britain started a campaign to educate children how to safely cross the street. Part of the campaign was a series of commercials and public appearances by the superhero known as "Green Cross Code Man".

"I was this Green Cross Code Man for five years on TV." David Prowse remembered, "I used to do three commercials a year over five years, so we did fifteen television commercials for this campaign. Then the department of transports asked me if I could go into schools and give talks to the children about road safety, and so for 14 years I went to all these schools and I eventually went to 700 cities throughout the world, I went to over 2000 schools, I spoke to over half a million children. The net result was, at the end, that we actually reduced the road accident figures in Great Britain by over a half, they went down from over 40000 to less than 20000... We actually saved something like a quarter of a million children's lives. It was a fantastic campaign to me. That's the best thing I've ever done!"

He's a real-life superhero.

6. A Documentary Got Him Kicked Out of Star Wars Conventions

"So I said, "George, Jar Jar will never work...is this being recorded?" David Prowse The People vs. George Lucas