Star Wars: Darth Vader Statue Appears in David Prowse’s Hometown After His Passing

Sad news hit the Star Wars fandom over the weekend when it was revealed that Darth Vader actor David Prowse had passed away at age 85. It was reported that the actor/bodybuilder’s death came at the end of a two-week hospitalization with COVID-19. Prowse has received a lot of love on social media since his passing from both fans and friends, but those are not the only tributes made in his honor. ITV recently reported that the empty Edward Colston plinth in Bristol, Prowse’s hometown, now features a figure of Darth Vader. According to the report, the “unofficial” statue is a miniature model and it just appeared overnight.

Some people have taken to Twitter to share photos of the statue, including @sandyhruthven. “So it’s super tiny! But it’s a bit of Bristol’s story on the Plinth,” he wrote. You can check out the images in the tweet below:

Prowse’s daughter, Rachel Prowse, took to social media this week to thank everyone for their kind words and tributes. You can read her post below:

“Dad would have been over the moon about the reaction he has had today,” Prowse wrote online. “Me and the rest of the family have been overwhelmed by the lovely comments and the sharing of some hilarious memories. Thanks, Twitter for brightening a difficult day #mtfbwy #DaveProwse.” “MTFBWY,” of course, means “May The Force be with you,” the famous Jedi saying from the series.

During casting for Star Wars, Prowse had his choice of playing Darth Vader or Chewbacca. In 2013, he told NPR why he chose to go with the villain:

“What happened actually is my agent rang me up and said there’s a gentleman in town called George Lucas who would very much like to see you,” he said. “So, I went out to see him and meet up with him. He took me into a room and showed me all these conceptual drawings. He said, ‘I would like to offer you one of two parts in this movie I’m doing. The first one is a character called Chewbacca.’ I said, ‘What in the h*** is Chewbacca?’ ‘He goes through the film on the side of the goodies, you see?’ I heard that and said, ‘Three months in a gorilla skin? No, thank you very much!’

“‘The other one is called Darth Vader. He’s the big villain of the film, you see?’ I said, ‘Don’t say anymore George, I’ll have the villain’s part. He said, ‘Tell me why?’ Think back on all the movies you’ve ever seen when there’s good guys and bad guys. You always remember the bad guy!”

You can watch Prowse in the original Star Wars trilogy on Disney+.