5. He Has Been Played By Six Different Actors On Film
"Six?" you say. "Don't you mean five different actors?" Dave Prowse, James Earl Jones, Sebastian Shaw, Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen... surely that's all of them, right? Five actors? Nope! There's one more Vader, and he's usually the guy who people forget to include when listing them all. The sixth on-screen Vader was Bob Anderson, who served as David Prowse's stunt double for the lightsaber fights in The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi. Anderson, who died in 2012, was an Olympic fencer before he got involved in the movie business. Best known as a fight choreographer (he did the famous sword fights in films like The Princess Bride, The Lord Of The Rings and Highlander), he also donned Darth Vader's costume when it came time for the lightsaber duels in Episodes V and VI, but remains unknown thanks to the lack of a credit. As Mark Hamill, annoyed that Anderson hadn't been credited, once stated:
"Bob Anderson was the man who actually did Vader's fighting. It was always supposed to be a secret, but I finally told George I didn't think it was fair any more. 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."
Right-o, Mark: the sixth Vader deserves just as much recognition as the others.