David Prowse (Darth Vader) appeared in Tulsa, Oklahoma on July 19, 20, and 21 1996. Prowse related to the audience well and entertained us with unique acting annecdotes. I've never heard of anyone having experiences like those of David Prowse.
A Nearly Fatal Accident
While shooting a movie in full armor, Prowse got caught on his horse and dragged to the edge of a deep water tank on the set. Prowse said he would have been a "gonner" if he had fallen into the tank wearing 50+ pounds of armor.
Staying Healthy
Prowse has been weight-training since age 16 and still trains. He currently runs at least 1 health studio.
Star Wars Experiences
The prop people padded Prowse's Darth Vader helmet because it was too big at first. This caused the helmet to fog up and Prowse to get very hot. Unable to see during shoots, Prowse had to count paces before shooting the scenes and hope his stride did not change while he walked blindly.
While shooting some of the Star Wars scenes, Prowse walked so quickly that the directors had to ask him to stop and reshoot the scenes.
Prowse received little direction in how to play Darth Vader.
After playing Darth Vader, Prowse found acting jobs more easily. Surprisingly most of his jobs came from comedy shows. Prowse, however, did do dramatical work such as Clockwork Orange, which Prowse said was not as controversial outside the US.
The New Star Wars Movies
Prowse says he has no idea whether he or any of the other original Star Wars actors will be in the new Star Wars movies.
Trying to get the part of Superman
Prowse "never tried so hard" to get any part as he did to get Superman. He went to the Superman studio trying to convince the movie heads that he would be perfect for the part, but they disappointed Prowse when they told him that as a British actor he wasn't American enough for the part. They said only an American would be accepted by the fans as Superman. They even discontinued their consideration of Arnold Schwarzzenagor for the part for the same reason.
Training Superman (Christopher Reeves)
Prowse, however, did get to weight-train Christopher Reeves for the first Superman movie because Reeves had to gain a significant amount of weight in only 6 weeks. Although, the first 5 weeks of training went well, Prowse and Reeves did not end their relationiship on good terms. For the last week of training Prowse had to be in the Middle East. Prowse carefully prepared Reeves for the final week of training. Unfortunately, after Prowse returned to the US and came to the Superman set, Reeve's started yeeling at Prowse and saying that he had lost weight. Prowse disagreed with him and thought Reeves looked great, but some of the studio heads told Prowse to "humor him" and the relationship ended there.
European Commercial
Prowse said "your lips are suddenly shining" in a European lip gloss commerical. This phrase became popular throughout Europe and David repeated it for us at the con.
Four years away from cons
Arthritis problems caused Prowse to leave the convention circuit for 4 years and to not wear a regular shoe on one of his feet for 7 years. At one point doctors recommended cutting off one of Prowse's legs, but Prowse refused. Prowse does say that if they would have had to lose his leg that a parrot is all he would have needed after the surgery.
For years Prowse has had arthritis problems, thus causing him to start Dave Prowse's Force Against Arthritis. He travels the world fundraising for this charity.
Autobiography
Prowse has written an autobiography that may be published soon. Publishers enjoyed the first version of his book but said that 13 pages about Star Wars wasn't enough. They asked him to make half the book about his Star Wars experiences, and Prowse agreed. Prowse had no release date to offer at the time for the book.
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