just read where Prowse passed away at 85

another film iconic character has left us

I just saw that....apart of my childhood, loved the original Star Wars.

2020 truly sucks

ARman

He also had a part (Julian) in "A Clockwork Orange".

Definitely a passing of an iconic figure.

IIRC, he was less than pleased that his actual voice wasn't used in the movies.


$.02 worth,
Boss

there is a documentary on him.

edit: It is "I am your Father" and it is on Amazon:



It is actually kind of a sad tale. I have always wonder what went south with his relationship with Lucas, but only Lucas knows.

He didnt get to voice Vader, we are ok with that but it was sad. Then in return of the Jedi, it was supposed to be him that gets revealed, but Lucas filmed it in a shady manner and used a stand-in, who also is at the funeral / burning of Vader.
The last true insult was when they 'fixed' the ending of Return in the 90's and again, overlooked Prowse for the young guy.

BUT, he was loved by the Star Wars fans and we paid money to see him and get his autograph.

I loath small minded and petty people.



RIP Mr. Prowse, and thank you for bringing dignity and the Power of the Dark Side, to life.

Even though we never heard you, and did not see your face. You "made" Darth Vader with your presence. You did that.

Billions of people were impressed by your work.

Thank you.

- A fan.

I would watch that documentary. That being said, he’s an actor like I’m a circus elephant. If you walk around a set in complete head to toe costume and never utter a line in your own voice, who cares? I don’t know the story so it sucks if he was promised something and Lucas reneged on it. Once again though, Lucas fucked up so much in the Star Wars stories that this doesn’t exactly move my needle much. I had to sit through Darth Vaders childhood on a shitty desert planet so not seeing what could have been any tall guys face doesn’t annoy me much.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
I would watch that documentary. That being said, he’s an actor like I’m a circus elephant. If you walk around a set in complete head to toe costume and never utter a line in your own voice, who cares? I don’t know the story so it sucks if he was promised something and Lucas reneged on it. Once again though, Lucas fucked up so much in the Star Wars stories that this doesn’t exactly move my needle much. I had to sit through Darth Vaders childhood on a shitty desert planet so not seeing what could have been any tall guys face doesn’t annoy me much.

Star Wars was not his only acting job,

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001190/

It was a movie...pure fiction. Vader's character was was TWO iconic people simultaneously...Prowse's physical presence and James Earl Jones's voice. One did not exist without the other.

Seriously, can anyone imagine Vader with a different voice? It just wouldn't have been the same.




Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQFho0_G1VI

$.02 worth.

Boss

Well, if I was 6’6” I could have played Darth Vader just as effectively as Mr Prowse. That ain’t acting. In all honesty I credit James Earl Jones more as DV iconically than the actor wearing a full body suit. Anyone can impersonate a tall guy if you are tall. Nobody is nailing that voice.

I can see it now...

Special Release of Star Wars: The real voice of Darth Vader

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
Well, if I was 6’6” I could have played Darth Vader just as effectively as Mr Prowse. That ain’t acting. In all honesty I credit James Earl Jones more as DV iconically than the actor wearing a full body suit. Anyone can impersonate a tall guy if you are tall. Nobody is nailing that voice.

Sure, anybody *could* have done it, but Prowse did do it. As you stated, one could not exist without the other. Vader was sinister because of his voice AND his physical presence. I can't see Vader being nearly as intimidating were he of average height. Prowse did a good job emoting through the costume (that isn't easy - see how looney toons the Power Rangers were when they had to act through their full-face suits).

Jones IS Darth Vader. That voice is everything, and there is no shame at all in not having as good a voice as James Earl Jones. . .

quote:

I can't see Vader being nearly as intimidating were he of average height.

Not that it really matters, but he apparently died from complications from covid.

A larger than life actor, which is saying something at 6' 6".

May the force be with you Mr. Prowse.

Slight thread drift. Anybody see the commercials for the bible app where James Earl Jones reads the bible ? Either him or Morgan Freeman reading the bible. Can’t go wrong.

Continuing that thread drift... David Suchet (he of Poirot legend) reading the Bible is incredible. Must have audiobook.

I guess what people were so pissed about is the way it was done. He was allowed to act and speak all parts of Vader and apparently was not told he was not the voice of Vader. Then when they filmed the final Vader scene without him was a pisser.

Later he stops getting invites to gatherings etc. At the least it was mean spirited by Lucas.

Wasn't he banned from fan conventions due to constantly voicing up his ongoing feud with George Lucas at such? Mainly about the whole dubbing thing? Not a good fan experience.

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
Wasn't he banned from fan conventions due to constantly voicing up his ongoing feud with George Lucas at such? Mainly about the whole dubbing thing? Not a good fan experience.

Also, I don't know about him being 'unknown.' I knew his name (along with Kenny Baker (R2), Anthony Daniels (c3po), Peter Mayhew (Chewie) and Frank Oz (Yoda), all of whom acted without us ever seeing their faces) when I was a teenager in the 1980s. Of course, most people likely never knew who he was, and as a nerd, I've always obsessed over sci-fi minutia. . .

Also, there are two sides to every quarrel. If he was vocally trash-talking Lucas, then he should not have been surprised to be dis-invited to conventions - that would happen to nearly anybody who would be unwise enough to vocally trash one's employer. To me, it sounds petty that he got butt-hurt about not being able to voice Vader. The character just wouldn't be sinister without that deep baritone voice, and James Earl Jones was perfect for that role (as well as playing Mufasa in Lion King).



As far as voices go, try this one: Winnie the Pooh's voice actor reading Darth Vader's lines (he goes on to do Darkwing Duck as a bonus):

I’m going to be the douche here. Did his paychecks cash? Did his contract say he was going to be the voice and it would be his face? After the success of the first movie George Lucas could have replaced him with nearly any fucking body that was 6’6”. Literally he could have gotten a tall nerd to do it for fucking free. Mark Hamill is a shitty actor but for fucks sake he at least acted. Wasn’t there a little actor in R2D2 as well?

George Lucas may be a dick and he fucked up huge elements of the story but putting James Earl Jones voice over some half ass British accent speaking body builder actor wasn’t a mistake. It was artistic genius. If only he had applied some of that genius to his other casting decisions. It’s like a workshop for bad actors. Sir Alec Guinness and others being exceptions. Hayden Christensen and Mark Hamill are the
two biggest roles in the story. They both are shitty actors. All of which ignores that Prowse didn’t act in that movie. He moved from spot to spot and gestured. He may have felt like an actor but alas no.