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Star Wars, Princess Bride, Lord of the Rings Swordfight Choreographer Passes Away

by Jill Pantozzi | 11:08 am, January 2nd

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Sword-fight choreographer and fencer, Bob Anderson, has passed away. You may not know him by name but the talented man worked on many films and franchises we love including acting as Darth Vader’s stunt double in Star Wars. 

Yes, 89-year-old Anderson was one of the folks in Vader’s costume during lightsaber fight scenes in both Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. He’s one of seven actors to have worn the famous suit in the George Lucas’ films. His role was a secret for some time with star Mark Hamill finally talked about it in a 1983 interview.

“Bob Anderson was the man who actually did Vader’s fighting,” he said. “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.”

He trained with famous swashbuckler Errol Flynn and represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games in 1952.

Anderson’s credits also include acting as sword master on The Princess Bride, Highlander, First Knight, Pirates of the Caribbean and all three of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films.

The One Ring reported that Anderson, “was also brought in to train the actors in different fencing techniques. An expert in medieval arms, Anderson read the novel and then developed sparring methods based on Tolkien’s descriptions of each culture.”

They also wrote, “According to director Daniel McNicoll, Anderson once told him, “You know I don’t feel like I found the sword, I feel like the sword found me.”

So sad to hear this news, our geek world wouldn’t be the same without him.

(via Empire)

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  • Anonymous

    I think I first learned about Bob Anderson when the first Lord of the Rings film was released. I was dumbfounded by the fact that one man had managed to make a crucial contribution to so many of my favorite films!

  • Anonymous

    Aw, man. Bob Anderson was a legend. My stage combat instructor mentioned him every other week. So sad. So it goes.

  • Frodo Baggins

    I guess this means everyone in The Hobbit is going to be sword-fighting like six-year-olds with plastic lightsabers, then.

  • Anonymous

    Also, RIP Joe Simon, whom this site neglected to post an obit for.

  • Anonymous

    We’re not obligated to run obits, just FYI. But we did mention his passing here: http://www.themarysue.com/things-we-saw-today-15/

  • Anonymous

    I never said your site was obligated, FYI. Merely pointing out a glaring omission, for a site that bills itself as a geek culture guide. If Stan Lee passed — may he live to an age beyond the human norm — it would be a glaring omission if TMS did not post an obit. Joe Simon is just as significant to the comic book aspect of geek culture as someone like Stan Lee, regardless of the general public’s familiarity with Lee.

  • http://www.thenerdybird.com/ Jill Pantozzi

    Yes, and we DID post about it. Not sure what there is to complain about…