You may not recognize the name, but you’re probably familiar with his work.
Bob Anderson, a British fencer and movie stand-in for one of the screen’s iconic villains, passed away this week at the age of 89.
Anderson was a stand-in for Darth Vader in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, donning the famous mask and cloak for some of the pivotal light saber battles in both films. Most of the time, the famous outfit was worn by actor David Prowse, but there were times that Anderson took over, especially in the epic fight scenes from both films.
“David Prowse wasn’t very good with a sword and Bob couldn’t get him to do the moves,” said Anderson’s former assistant, Leon Hill. “Fortunately Bob could just don the costume and do it himself.”
The scenes worked beautifully, although Anderson, then nearing 60, was several inches shorter than Prowse.
Few knew of Anderson’s role until Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, said in a 1983 interview that “Bob Anderson was the man who actually did Vader’s fighting.”
“It was always supposed to be a secret, but I finally told George (Lucas) I didn’t think it was fair any more,” Hamill told Starlog magazine, referring to the legendary director and producer. “Bob worked so bloody hard that he deserves some recognition. It’s ridiculous to preserve the myth that it’s all done by one man.”
Robert James Gilbert Anderson was born in Hampshire, southern England, in 1922, and was drawn to fencing from an early age.
“I never took up the sword,” he said in an interview for the 2009 documentary “Reclaiming the Blade.” “I think the sword took me up.”
Anderson joined the Royal Marines before World War II, teaching fencing aboard warships and winning several combined services titles in the sport.
He served in the Mediterranean during the war, later trained as a fencing coach and represented Britain at the 1952 Olympics and the 1950 and 1953 world championships.
In the 1950s, Anderson became coach of Britain’s national fencing team, a post he held until the late 1970s. He later served as technical director of the Canadian Fencing Association.
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