Prowse returns

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Prowse returns

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Dave is back on the circuit next year and maybe as Vader in Ep. 3 if Lucas wants him:<br><br>At the beginning of the year I was expecting to have an operation to shorten my right leg<br>by two inches. I'd had a hip replacement several years ago which necessitated a lot of<br>bone grafting and that resulted in one leg longer than the other. It was hoped that over <br>time it would right itself, of course it never did, so to compensate I've had the shoe on<br>my left side built up and, as you are all aware, I have hobbled all over the world, at<br>one time with a walking stick but latterly on crutches fulfilling my convention <br>committments. January's operation was cancelled at the last moment as my surgeon had <br>decided to do a total hip replacement instead of the more minor leg shortening op. I then <br>had the dilema of not wanting surgery til later in the year so that I could take advantage<br>of all the work offers that were coming in. In agreement with my surgeon the decision was <br>made that September would be a good time and as you read this I am delighted to give you<br>the good news that the operation has been completed successfully and I am on the road to <br>recovery. I hope to be walking unaided by Christmas then I can get back to the gym and<br>get myself into peak condition to reprise the Darth Vader role in Episode 3 should I be <br>offered it. Watch this space for the news of my progress.<br><br>What a year this has been so far. People are always asking me what being Darth Vader has<br>done for me and my first reply is that it has opened up the world to me. This year alone<br>I have been in Atlanta (twice), Orlando, Honiton, Birmingham, Copenhagen, New Jersey, Paris,<br>Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Dallas, New York, Mexico, Chicago, Guatemala, Los Angeles,<br>San Diego, and Glasgow. I don't want to do a show by show report but I would like to tell <br>you about some of the more memorable moments, both good and bad.<br><br>Chiller Theatre in New Jersey is one of the world's great conventions and personalities<br>are queuing to get on the guest list. Most of the celebs were signing in a marque in the<br>hotel grounds - I was lucky, I was in a nice room signing alongside make up specialist<br>Tom Savini (The Creature from the Black Lagoon) and guitarist Richie Scarlet. At about<br>6pm on the Friday evening the sky went almost black and we had one of the worst hail and <br>rain storms ever. The marquee collapsed under the weight of the hail and rain and all <br>the 'outside celebs' were drenched as they tried to escape the storm and rescue their <br>photos. George Lazenby (James Bond) Maud Adams, Charles Napier and Richard Kiel (Jaws),<br>were just a few of the signers who got caught. If that wasn't enough, very early next<br>morning there was an earthquake about 50 miles away and the aftershcoks were felt at the<br>hotel.<br><br>Indianapolis Celebration 2 Convention was a blast - never have I worked so hard and signed<br>so many autographs in a three day show. 30,000 fans were expected and nearly 100,000 <br>turned up. The line for me was 5 hours long and the organisers kept moving me as my line<br>was interfering with all the others. Was signing for a while next to Billy Dee Williams<br>who was his usual amiable self and I also had the pleasure of meeting up with Carrie<br>Fisher who signed a photo to me - 'To my real Daddy!'. I think there were 35 StarWars <br>personalities signing, but I was so busy all the time that I didn't get the chance to meet<br>up with many of them.<br><br>In Dallas I met up with an old buddy of mine Tom Ward, one of the worlds top golf teachers<br>and did a week of publicity appearances including going on one of the largest Christian<br>T.V. networks and meeting up with the Dallas Cowboys at their training quarters.<br><br>The next trip was Slautsburg 40 miles north of New York. My old pal Phil Brown was <br>appearing and he'd been informed that it was going to be a big affair with over 2,000<br>fans coming. On arrival in Slautsburg I quickly realised that it was not going to be the<br>sort of con. I was expecting. For a start the organisers wanted to house me at the local<br>convent with the nuns. The convent was beautiful but when I discovered that there was no<br>telephone, no radio, and the only T.V. was in the lounge (only showed videos), I decided<br>it was time to book myself into the local hotel. I eventually discovered that Slautsburg<br>is a village and became concerned about the convention when I saw the local Mothers<br>Union selling cakes and home made candy at the front door! The guest list consisted of<br>Phil Brown and myself plus six wrestlers from a lesser known federation none of whom I'd <br>ever hear of! To end the story only about 200 people turned up and although the organisers<br>were obviously losing money, they really looked after us well.<br><br>Mexico was a great convention and the organisers arranged promotional sponsorships from <br>the 1st class hotel to resturant visits. Peter Mayhew, Steve Sansweet were the other <br>signers and Rick MacCullum from LucasFilm came in to do a presentation. Had my birthday<br>in Mexico (July 1st) and fortunately it was a free day. The owner of the hotel gave me <br>his driver and new Mercedes with interpreter and we had a wonderful day out visiting the<br>Aztec Pyramids. The convention was very busy, the organisers had produced a brochure<br>which featured Hayden Christiansen and Darth Vader that all the fans wanted signed.<br><br>Went on to Chicago for the WizardWorld Comicon, another major event in the convention <br>calendar. Met up with my old mate Lou Ferrigno and also signing were Jeremy, Peter, and<br>Rusty Goffe. The big draw amongst the signers was the actor who plays the young Lex<br>Luther in 'Smallville' the Superman series, went over to meet him and we had photos taken <br>together.<br><br>My trip to Guatemala coincided with a visit from the Pope who was there to canonise a saint.<br>For the whole day prior to his arrival the people made brightly coloured murals made of<br>sawdust in the roads the Popemobile route was taking. I took some great photos of the <br>works of art. I doubt very much whether the Pope ever saw the wonderful creations as the <br>Popemobile drove over them. The artists cleared up and began the murals again (which take <br>all day to make) for the Pope's return journey. The convention was a friendly affair but<br>not as busy as the promotors had hoped. One of the highlights was the charity auction<br>where bidding reached $550 for some whiskey shot glasses and an autographed photo from me!<br>The stay was made enjoyable and eventful with great dinners, and a trip to one of the most <br>picuresque lakes I have ever seen. The lake is ringed by three non active volcanos and <br>the Indians in their brightly woven outfits were selling key rings, table cloths, leather<br>work, carvings, etc. Once again I took some great photos but had to pay $5 for the <br>priviledge.<br><br>In San Diego at Comicon Mark Hammill came to see me and asked if I would take part in a <br>film he was making at the convention. He looks totally different from how I remembered<br>him - he'd been growing a beard and has had his hair dyed - blonde/ginger - for the part.<br>The action took place in a resturant where I am sat drinking with Jeremy and Peter, Mark<br>comes to sit at our table and I have to tell him to 'push off' and that was it. The film<br>is to encompass fandom and conventioneering but whether is will ever be seen I do not <br>know.<br><br>Henry Cook and Ruth invited me to do their Glasgow show over the weekend 24th/25th Aug.<br>I was going to appear with Uri Geller again but he'd been invited to be on a 'survival'<br>show - 'I'm a Cellebrity, get me out of here' that was filmed in Australia. <br><br>At the beginning of the year I had decided that DragonCon in Atlanta was going to be the<br>last con. before hospitalisation. This years DragonCon was quiet compared to other years<br>but just as outrageous that one can't fail to enjoy. However a fan summed up the lack of<br>interest (for me) when he said - 'there are two sure things in life, 1. the sun will always<br>rise in the morning and 2. Dave Prowse will always be at DragonCon!'<br><br>Was invited to do the commentary on the DVD being released in the States of 'Frankenstein<br>and the Monster from Hell'. Madeline Smith who played 'Angel' was also invited and we<br>sat in a sound studio watching the film and making comments about our parts, the Hammer<br>management, the other actors, and anything else whether related to the film or not.<br>It was a fun couple of hours and great to meet up with Maddy whom I have not seen for <br>several years.<br><br>My final job - pre op. - was in Milton Keynes an extravaganza organised by Jason Joiner<br>and his right hand man Mark. Larry Bore who looks after Darth Maul (Ray Parks) was brought<br>in to liase with all the personality signers. The show took over the atrium of the huge<br>shopping mall and as it was held in such a public place access to the fans was free. The<br>headline signers were Rutger Hauer from 'Bladerunner', Tony Head from 'Buffy', the new <br>Jango Fett signing alongside Boba Fett, David Soul of 'Starsky and Hutch' fame, Mike<br>Berryman from 'Conan' and 'Cuckoos Nest' and myself supported by Carrick Hagen, Michael<br>Sheard, Mike Edmonds, Paul Blake and John Hollis all from the StarWars Trilogy.<br>To say the idea of an 'open' Collectormania Sale was a huge success would be an under-<br>statement as we had upwards of 200,000 people through the mall, all the dealers reported <br>good business and all the signers were easily accessible. I had a great time chatting with <br>the fans so for me it was a great convention to end with and am looking forward to being <br>back on the road and meeting up with you all soon. <p></p><i></i>

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