The original Dark Lord of the Sith has decided to officially retire from the convention circuit. Dave Prowse played the iconic role of Darth Vader in the original trilogy of Star Wars films. While he was not the man revealed under the mask in Return of the Jedi (that was Sebastian Shaw), nor was he the voice (that was James Earl Jones), he was the man that breathed life into the character and gave us a terrifying build of a man.
Dave Prowse has always been a constant at fan conventions, but in recent years his health has been declining, and he was also diagnosed with dementia.
Prowse was a former body builder prior to landing the role of the iconic Darth Vader. Due to his height and build, he was a go-to-guy for many roles in TV from the late 60’s to the mid 80’s.
His agents, Alliance Agents, posted this information this evening.
As posted on his official Facebook page, Sadly due to his health, Dave Prowse will be retiring at the end of the year. His family have asked that there are no further convention bookings made.
Dave will be working remaining bookings that are easy to get to and do not require an overnight stay, however there are likely to be a number of cancellations.
These are the wishes of Dave’s family, so please can people remain respectful of this and understand when these cancellations have to be made.
Dave’s health and well being must now take priority.
For the time being Dave will continue to take part in private signings at home.
A truly huge loss for the fan community. We at OuterRimNews want to congratulate David for his huge contributions to the Star Wars mythos, and wish him well in his retirement.
