The iconic Star Wars character Darth Vader was such a large force it took three men to play him. James Earl Jones utilized his powerful voice to characterize the man behind the mask, while actor David Prowse was usually the performer wearing the dark headgear and flowing cape. That is except when Vader wielded his light saber. Then Bob Anderson wore the menacing costume and six-inch lifts in his shoes to match Prowse’s commanding height.

Anderson passed away on New Year’s Day at the age of 89 in an English hospital, as reported by The British Academy of Fencing. Anderson not only left his mark on the three original Star Wars movies, he also had a hand in the sword play that was such a big part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The swordsman, who worked with everyone from Viggo Mortensen to Errol Flynn in movies, was also a member of Great Britain’s Olympic fencing squad that competed in Helsinki in 1952.

For more light saber tomfoolery and mash-ups, see the PopFi post about a drunken faux Vader attacking his neighbors. And now that Vader’s on your mind, you do want to see that cute Super Bowl commercial of the kid dressed like Darth that tries to use his Force.

Image

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]