Darth Vader has died

 

The original Darth Vader has died. Actor and bodybuilder Dave Prowse has passed away, aged 85. 

Those of us growing up in Seventies Britain knew Prowse as a safety conscious super-hero, The Green Cross Code Man, extolling the virtues of looking both ways before crossing the road. I like to think Tufty was operating a control room inside his head. He described the character as the best role he ever had.

However, it seems his acting career started in the 1967 spoof Casio Royale, where he played Frankenstein's Monster. He reprised that role in a couple of Hammer movies. On tv, he variously appeared in The Saint, Doctor Who,  Space: 1999 and others. I have to confess a soft spot for his brief appearance in the movie version of  Callan. His hired muscle character has a fatal encounter with the reluctant assassin.