DAVID PROWSE

(1 July 1935 - 28 November 2020)

The British actor, bodybuilder and weightlifter David Prowse, who has died aged 85, will be best remembered on two accounts. Apart from his being a British weightlifting champion in the 1962 Commonwealth Games, he became the face of road safety for children as the superhero figure, the Green Cross Code Man, in several commercials from the 1970s. At six-foot seven-inches (2.01m) he was a commanding figure and at first was typecast as Frankenstein’s Creature in the 1967 Casino Royale and also appeared in The Horror of Frankenstein, as well as the comedies Up Pompeii, Up the Chastity Belt and Carry On Henry until film producer George Lucas saw him in A Clockwork Orange. This ultimately led to Prowse playing Darth Vader in the first trilogy of Star Wars films from 1977. Prowse also appeared in many more films and television shows but he made an indelible mark on his role as Darth Vader - whose face is never seen. Having been born in Bristol, Prowse had a strong West Country accent, forcing Lucas to cast James Earl Jones as the ‘voice’ of Darth Vader. Ironically enough, at 89, James Earl Jones is, at the time of writing, still with us. However, no Star Wars fan will forget the physical presence of the ‘giant’ behind the battledress... the hypnotically impressive Dave Prowse.

MICHAEL DARVELL