David Prowse, the original Darth Vader, Dies Due to COVID-19 Complications

Actor David Prowse, who played Darth Vader in the first Star Wars trilogy, died of complications from Covid-19, his daughter has told UK newspapers.

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David Charles Prowse MBE (1 July 1935 – 28 November 2020) was an English bodybuilder, weightlifter, and character actor in British film and television. He physically portrayed Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy and a manservant in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film A Clockwork Orange. In 2015, he starred in 2 documentaries concerning his Darth Vader role, one entitled The Force's Mouth which included Prowse voicing Darth Vader's lines with studio effects applied for the first time, and the other entitled I Am Your Father covering the subject of fallout between Prowse and Lucasfilm. Prior to his role as Vader, Prowse had established himself as a figure in the United Kingdom as the Green Cross Man in the Green Cross Code road safety public information aimed at children. Prowse was born in Bristol, the son of Gladys (Burt) and Charles Prowse. He was brought up on the Southmead housing estate in Bristol, gaining a scholarship to Bristol Grammar School. Prowse was tall, standing 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), and developed an interest in bodybuilding. His early jobs included a bouncer at a dance hall, where he met his future wife, and a helper at Henleaze Swimming Pool. Following his successes from 1961 in the British heavyweight weightlifting championship, he left Bristol in 1963 to work for a London weightlifting company.