David Prowse Did Not Play Darth Vader in ‘Return of the Jedi,’ It Was this Man

Sebastian Shaw is the English actor who appeared as Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi in 1983. The role was not played by David Prowse. Shaw died in December 1994 at 89.

Prowse died in London on November 28 at the age of 85 following a battle with a short illness.

David Prowse told Rock Cellar Magazine in an October 2012 interview that he was never told that James Earl-Jones would be performing the voice of Darth Vader. Despite the deceit, Prowse said that he thought Jones did a “wonderful” job. During the interview, Prowse said that he hadn’t spoken to Star Wars creator George Lucas since the filming of Return of the Jedi wrapped in 1983.

Prowse went on to say why Sebastian Shaw was brought in to play the role of Darth Vader when the supervillain’s face is finally revealed during the climax of Return of the Jedi. Prowse said that Shaw was a friend of Alec Guinness, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi, in the movie. Shaw was having financial problems at the time and he reached out to Guinness to ask if there was a role in one of the Star Wars movies available. Prowse added:

Unfortunately, everybody was expecting to see me, and unfortunately for me, they got to see Sebastian Shaw. I would have loved to play that part. And it had nothing to do with any problems they were having with me, or anything like that. It was simply Alec doing his friend a favor and George was doing him a favor, as it were.

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