Prause died after a short illness, according to his agent Thomas Boyington. CNN reported in 2018 that Prause was being treated for prostate cancer.
“It is with great regret and great sadness for us and millions of fans around the world that we announce the death of our client, DAVE PROWSE MBE, at the age of 85,” Bowington Management said on Twitter Sunday.
“Power is always with him!” His former agent, Thomas Poyington, told the BBC.
“Although he was famous for playing many monsters – for me and everyone who Dave knew and worked with, he was a hero in our lives.”
Prause wore a black suit and helmet to play Darth Vader, but James Earl Jones provided the character’s voice. The West English accent of Prause’s country was thought to be inappropriate for the part.
But it was his role as “Green Cross man” from a British road safety campaign that Prause said he was proud of. He was awarded the MBE Medal – Member of the Best Order of the British Empire – in 2000 for the role.
Bruce was born into a working-class family and raised on a Southmead City Hall estate in southwest England. Awarded a scholarship to attend the Bristol Grammar School.
His broad physique and towering figure helped give him roles as monsters and villains in TV shows and movies. He played the monster in the 1970 movie “The Horror of Frankenstein” and the bearded executioner in “Carry on Henry” in 1971. The same year he appeared as a bodyguard in Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 movie “A Clockwork Orange”.
He went on to play Darth Vader in all three of the original “Star Wars” films, in 1977, 1980 and 1983.
Health and fitness remained a concern for Prause, who also worked as a personal trainer for the actors who played Superman, including Christopher Reeve, and wrote a book called “Fitness is Fun.”
He published his autobiography “Straight from the mouth of power” in 2011.