Darth Vader Actor Banned from Star Wars Conventions
Dave Prowse the man behind the mask of one of the greatest villains of all time has been banned from all LucasFilm associated Star Wars conventions. He made the announcement on his official website saying,
It is with regret that I have been informed by my friends at C2 Ventures, Ben and Phillip, that I am not to be invited to C5 this year or any other Lucas Film associated events. After enquiring, the only thing I have been told is that I have "burnt too many bridges between Lucas Film and myself" - no other reason given.
I have also been advised by the promoter of Paris Manga in September that LFL have requested no photo opportunities with the 501 Squadron, even though I am commander in chief of the 501.
Sincere apologies to all my fans who were hoping to meet with me - I shall miss you too. As you will see from my events page I will be at many conventions all over the world so we can still keep in touch.
The only thing I can think of that got him banned was that last year he claimed that LucasFilm had yet to pay him any residual payments on Return of the Jedi because according to LucasFilm the movie had yet to make a profit. In a previous interview around the time he announced he had prostate cancer he said the following,
I get these occasional letters from Lucasfilm saying that we regret to inform you that as Return of the Jedi has never gone into profit, we’ve got nothing to send you. Now here we’re talking about one of the biggest releases of all time. I don’t want to look like I’m bitching about it, but on the other hand, if there’s a pot of gold somewhere that I ought to be having a share of, I would like to see it.
LucasFilms response to this was,
There is a big difference between having a share of the gross profit and having a share of the net profit. It is a huge difference in just one word. Sometimes, with net profit, with all the expenses and so on, it seems like you end up paying them.
This may or may not be the reason he's been banned, but apparently he's burned his bridges. He will be at other conventions that aren't involved with LucasFilm though.
Kinda sucks that he's been banned, but I guess they have their reasons. What do you think?