The sad story behind the most famous Star Wars autograph

According to Chris Snellgrove
| Published 2 days ago

Most autographs don’t have much of a story attached to the celebrity signing. Sure, you’ll be telling your friends about this moment for the rest of your life, but it was just another off-season weekend afternoon for a big-time actor at your local con. However, the man behind the most famous character in all of Star Wars has a wild autograph story that’s equal parts sad and mischievous. David Prowse was in the Vader suit, but was dubbed by James Earl Jones and was so upset that he signed most of his autographs with “David Prowse is Darth Vader”.

David Prowse is Darth Vader

To understand why this Star Wars icon was so vicious with his autographs, you have to understand the history of bad blood between the late great David Prows and George Lucas. It all started with the original Star Wars movie. Prowse was a tall bodybuilder who was hired because his impressive physique made him ideal for the role of Vader. But his voice wasn’t really appropriate: late Carrie Fisher he once revealed that the cast nicknamed Prowse “Darth Farmer” because of his country English accent, and Lucas famously hired James Earl Jones to redo all of Vader’s lines in a move that surprised Prowse.

Having his famous character surprisingly recast probably wouldn’t have been enough to destroy the relationship between the two men, but what really drove a wedge between Prowse and Lucas was an incident in 1978. Prowse and other Star Wars actors were signing autographs. Darth Vader the actor revealed that his character was actually Luke Skywalker’s father. actually The Empire strikes back it hadn’t been written yet, so everyone’s favorite on-screen cyborg spoke from his exhaust port. He happened to accurately predict what would appear one movie later.

By the end of the year The Empire strikes backLuke isn’t sure if Vader is really his father or if this was a strange ploy by the Dark Side to manipulate him emotionally. Return of the Jedi confirmed who Luke’s father was, but that big reveal was spoiled for fans a year before the film hit the UK tabloids. Because of the previous incident, Lucas always blamed Prowse for the leak, and the results were swift and brutal: Prowse was kicked out during filming, replaced by Sebastian Shaw for Vader’s one unmasked scene, and banned from official Star Wars conventions until 2010.

Still, you could say Prowse had the last laugh. The temporary ban from official Star Wars conventions hasn’t stopped him from appearing at other Comic-Con-style events around the world, signing autographs for throngs of fans. And he made sure each autograph was a statement in itself: “David Prowse is Darth Vader.” Some saw it as an insult against James Earl Jones, but we see it as the actor’s way of reminding people of his accomplishments in a franchise that has increasingly distanced itself from him.

Obviously, this Star Wars tale of sad and spiteful autographs isn’t a feel-good story, but we like to think it helps us remember something important about the franchise. Fans tend to highlight unique creators (like George Lucas, Dave Filonior Rian Johnson) when a movie or TV show crashes and burns in a galaxy far, far away, but the truth is that it takes a village of creators to bring our favorite stories to life. Celebrating Star Wars means celebrating everyone who has been a part of something that has always brought immense joy to fans.

David Prowse played one of the most important parts of the early days of this franchise, and we can only hope that his surviving family knows that we don’t need an autograph to remind us of the simple and profound truth: now and forever, David Prowse is Darth. Vader.

Source: Mashable