The Guardian (USA)

Star Wars: Darth Vader actor David Prowse’s items up for auction

- Steven Morris

The lots up for auction include an iconic movie script (minus a crucial plot spoiler), a mask that has terrified generation­s of sci-fi fans and even a chunk of a beloved starship.

More than 700 possession­s of David Prowse, the Bristolian who played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, are being sold off in his home city following his death aged 85 last year.

Included is his The Empire Strikes Back script, which has key lines removed to keep Vader’s relationsh­ip with Luke Skywalker secret, a piece of the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit and a Vader mask Prowse is believed to have used for appearance­s at convention­s and events.

Appropriat­ely, the collection will be sold on 4 May – a nod to the franchise’s famous line: “May the force be with you.”

Auctioneer Andrew Stowe, of East Bristol Auctions, said: ‘‘When I was rummaging through the boxes from his house, every now and then I’d come across something special and it would send my brain racing.

“In one box I’d find his Empire Strikes Back script, in another I found an actual piece of the Millennium Falcon, then a little deeper down I’d find a letter from Peter Cushing.”

The Empire Strikes Back script is expected to sell for thousands. ‘‘My spine tingled when I first saw the script,” said Stowe. But the line revealing Vader and Luke’s relationsh­ip does not feature.

Stowe said: “The reveal – per

haps the most recognised moment in cinema history – was kept a big secret from most of the cast. As Prowse’s lines would be over-dubbed by James Earl Jones he [Prowse] wasn’t privy to the secret, so instead, he was given alternate dialogue which is considerab­ly less dramatic. But that in itself makes this a unique piece of history.’’

A percentage of proceeds from the auction will go to Alzheimer’s Research UK.

 ?? Photograph: Edward Webb/Alamy Stock Photo ?? Dave Prowse with a Darth Vader mask.
Photograph: Edward Webb/Alamy Stock Photo Dave Prowse with a Darth Vader mask.

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