The sad story behind the most famous Star Wars autograph

By Chris Snellgrove | Published 25 seconds ago

Most autographs don’t have much of a story attached to them for the celebrity signing them. Sure, you’ll be telling your friends about this moment your whole life, but for a major player at your local convention, this was just another off-season weekend afternoon. However, the man behind Star Wars’ most famous character has a wild autograph story, which is equal parts sad and spiteful. David Prowse was wearing the Vader suit, but James Earl Jones dubbed it and was so angry that he signed most of his autographs with “David Prowse is Darth Vader.”

David Prowse as Darth Vader

To understand why this Star Wars icon was so spiteful with his autographs, you need to understand the history of bad blood between the late, great David Prowse 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 perfect for the role of Vader. However, his voice wasn’t really suitable: the late Carrie Fisher once revealed that the cast nicknamed Prowse “Darth Farmer” due to his rural English accent, and Lucas hired James Earl Jones to reduce all of Vader’s lines into a movement that took Proa by surprise.

Having his famous character surprisingly reduced probably wouldn’t be 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 when the Star Wars actor Darth Vader revealed that his character was, in fact, Luke Skywalker’s father. Actually, The empire strikes back It hadn’t been written yet, so everyone’s favorite on-screen cyborg was talking through the exhaust port. He just accurately predicted what would appear in a movie later.

At the end of The empire strikes backLuke isn’t sure if Vader is really his father or if this is some strange ruse from the Dark Side meant to emotionally manipulate him. Return of the Jedi confirmed who Luke’s dad was, but this big reveal was ruined for fans a year before a UK tabloid published the film. Due to the previous incident, Lucas always blamed Prowse for the leak, and the results were swift and brutal: Prowse was banned during filming, replaced by Sebastian Shaw in Vader’s only unmasked scene, and banned from attending official Vader conventions. Star Wars until 2010.

Still, you could say Prowse had the last laugh. Being temporarily banned from attending official Star Wars conventions didn’t stop him from appearing at other Comic-Con-style events around the world, signing autographs for legions of fans. And he made sure each autograph was a statement in itself: “David Prowse is Darth Vader.” Some saw this as a snub against James Earl Jones, but we see it as a way for the actor to remind people of his accomplishments in a franchise that kept increasingly distant from him.

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

David Prowse played one of the most important roles 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 a simple and profound truth: now and always, David Prowse is Darth. Vader.

Fountain: Mashable