Hubgeezer Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 I attended the 25th AOBS dinner Saturday, June 7. In attendance this year was English weightlifter, actor, trainer, and owner-of-the-Inch-Dumbbell-for-three-decades David Prowse. Prowse is best known as the actor in the Darth Vader suit in the first 3 Star Wars movies. Friday, June 6, a group of us in the lobby of the Airport Marriott were hungry and decided to eat in the restaurant steak house. Someone invited Prowse, who was hanging out in the lobby, but not traveling with anyone. There were 11 at the table in all. My brother, my son, Dave and Julie Hartnett, Darth Vader, and 5 people not from the Gripboard. On the one hand, Prowse is low key and blends in as just another person at the table. On the other hand, he will answer just about anything you ask him regardless of the subject, and is a good story teller. He told a story about something that happened between he and Bruce Wilhelm around 40 years ago, that was absolutely side-splitting. My son brought it up to Wilhem the following night, and he was able to hear his version of the same story. Pretty similar, just a different perspective. Anyway, I won't go into that, or Star Wars, or training Christopher Reeve for Superman, or blah blah blah...this is the Gripboard... I asked him about the Inch Dumbbell. He purchased it, in his words, "for 50 quid". He knew what it was, that it was a piece of strength history, but there was absolutely no interest in it from anyone at the time. He went through the story of it being unearthed, sitting in a crate, the first time he saw it, etc. He didn't seem to have any respect, love or wonder about the thing. I asked when that was. He thought it was around 1971. I asked if he could lift it. He said he picked it up the first time he touched it, and it stayed in the crate when he picked it up to deadlift it, the crate coming up with it. HE RATHER CASUALLY SAID HE COULD CLEAN IT. He said he was never able to put it over his head. The next day, I put my hand up against his. My brother took a photo, but I have not seen it yet. I would put his hands at 9 inches. His middle finger is what I would call freakishly long. So, do I believe that he could clean the Inch? Based on what little I know about the guy, and based on a far out story of 40 years earlier checking out (the Wilhelm story) the next day, yes, I do believe him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingsrule92 Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Why would you tell us you have a side splitting story then not tell it?!?!?!?!?! That's just cruel Mike!! At least post it in Goerners or something. It's pretty amazing to think that Vader could clean the inch, haha Great story Mike, but I still want to hear that story about Wilhelm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Mathison Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Wow.. thats awesome. I didnt know anything about him. Thanks a bunch for sharing this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burkhardmacht Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Thanks a lot for sharing this story Mike! I always wondered what he was thinking about the Inch and it's history. It might well be the case that he could do something with the Inch - or not. I've seen some very very strong people who were unable to lift the Inch - but some were able to do it. You really never know until it happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobsterone Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Having also met Dave he has also mentioned that the crate stopped the notorious spin and that it took some time to train to lift it once it was out of the crate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unequipped Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 ... very interesting. i never realised before, that he was a british weightlifting-champion - and very tall. http://www.darthvader-starwars.com/index.htm now i can understand, because an actor bought the inch-dumbbell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacobs86 Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Yes, I always knew vader was the strongest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmatt Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Cool story. Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mac Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Having also met Dave he has also mentioned that the crate stopped the notorious spin and that it took some time to train to lift it once it was out of the crate. He said the same to me as well a few years ago, plus I've seen that story in print. It definitely makes sense. I first met him, oh, about 20 years ago now, he was doing the rounds of the schools as the Green Cross Code Man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
climber511 Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Well - he does have the power of "The Force" with him . Come on Mike - give us the story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubgeezer Posted June 11, 2008 Author Share Posted June 11, 2008 Come on Mike - give us the story! Okay, it will have to be tomorrow night. I am going out tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teemu I Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Well - he does have the power of "The Force" with him .Yes, and remember that the Dark side of The Force is stronger in a way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tja Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamond Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Well - he does have the power of "The Force" with him . Apparently so and it appears that Vader has a new apprentice: before performing for Slim, Chris Rider met with Prowse and he told Chris "the force is with you." Next thing you know, Chris is breaking chains with this hair, bending shoes with his hair and tearing two plates at the same time. It appears the son of Skywalker has returned... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubgeezer Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 On the one hand, Prowse is low key and blends in as just another person at the table. On the other hand, he will answer just about anything you ask him regardless of the subject, and is a good story teller. He told a story about something that happened between he and Bruce Wilhelm around 40 years ago, that was absolutely side-splitting. My son brought it up to Wilhem the following night, and he was able to hear his version of the same story. Pretty similar, just a different perspective. Part I of the story. Prowse over dinner Friday night. First, a few words about Prowse and Wilhem. Prowse was a weightlifter, and I believe after his weightlifting days were over, he was quite a Trainer. Bruce Wilhelm was a US weightlifter, having tied for 3rd in the Superheavyweight division of the 1976 Olympics, came in 5th based on higher bodyweight (3 way tie). He went on to win the 1st and 2nd World's Strongest Man competitions in 1977 and 1978. Bruce attends the AOBS dinner every year, flys out from Northern California faithfully. Quite frankly, his strength resume is better than half the past AOBS honorees. At the age of 63 or 64, he is outspoken, fun-loving, outrageous, funny, quick, and I suspect he must ruffle somebody's feathers, as there is no reason he should not have been honored. I am not saying he is a John Belushi, but compared to some of the others, maybe so. Okay that is the background. At some point after dinner, Bruce Wilhelm's name comes up. Prowse just light up and smiles: Bruce Wilhelm? He then goes into a lengthy story. I cannot do it justice, as he is an excellent story teller. I guess Wilhelm contacted Prowse to give him some training lessons. I don't know if they were writing or phoning, but Prowse was traveling. He said he "feigned illness" so that the plane took an unscheduled stop in San Francisco. I guess 40 years ago, if you were 6 foot 7 and a professional actor, you could pull something like that off. I cannot imagine that happening today. So Wilhelm picks him up at the airport and takes him to his house, where he lived with his mother. Prowse thought it was "near San Jose", which is 50 miles South of San Francisco. The airport is around 15 miles South of San Francsico. So, Prowse wants to give Wilhelm a lesson, Wilhelm says, "I don't want to workout today", takes off, leaves Prowse with Wilhelm's mother. Prowse keeps telling more and more little incidents like this, where you are wondering just what Wilhelm is doing. Prowse is making him sound like a reckless irresponsible character, and we of course are loving it, as he is sorta of like America's Strongest Wildman. He doesn't want to workout. He goes to bed. He leaves. He is not being much of a host for his Trainer. Somewhere in there was a tough workout or two, and Wilhelm wanted to sleep a lot, and Prowse wanted to go places. Prowse articulated that he had always wanted to see San Francisco, and repeatedly asked to visit. Finally, one night, Wilhelm says, "I'll take you to San Jose". You have to understand that 40 years ago, long before San Jose became "Silicon Valley", that it was not exactly a cultural center. Prowse continues, "So he takes me to a STRIP CLUB called 'The Pink Poodle' in San Jose". The place laughs, and my son (who lives in San Jose) says, "It's still there!" He looks at the women at the table and says, "Or so I have heard". So Prowse and Wilhelm are sitting down at the place where they are looking up at the girls dance, Wilhelm puts his head down on the table and promptly goes to sleep. Prowse cannot really revive him. He is out like a light. After a while, Prowse starts talking to one girl, says some nice things to her, and goes home with her. He wakes Wilhelm up to tell him he is leaving, Wilhelm says okay and goes back to sleep. Prowse pretty much lost touch with whatever happened to Wilhelm. He said he knew he went on to become a great weight lifter, but I am not sure he knew he became a WSM. He was now smiling, and said, "will he be here tomorrow night?". At that point, I said "Absolutely!" The next night, I saw Prowse before the big dinner, and he told me he saw Bruce that morning. He smiled broadly, and I have no idea what that was all about. Somewhere around 10:30, the Saturday night dinner was still going. I noticed David Prowse sitting at the back table, sleeping. Tomorrow night: Part II: Bruce's Version Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StalwartSentinel Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 ... very interesting. i never realised before, that he was a british weightlifting-champion - and very tall.http://www.darthvader-starwars.com/index.htm now i can understand, because an actor bought the inch-dumbbell Yep, 6 foot 7 inches and 265 pounds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Dave_Prowse_Champions.JPG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Mathison Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 So Prowse owns or owned THE original inch bell? Maybe someone knows this...Was that his voice as vader? obviously filtered through something but was that him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mac Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 He doesn't own it anymore - Kim Wood Does. It was James Earl Jones's voice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGuy Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 So Prowse owns or owned THE original inch bell? Maybe someone knows this...Was that his voice as vader? obviously filtered through something but was that him? The voice was that of actor James Earl Jones. Prowse's voice is very different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mac Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 "Ooh Arr Luke, use ye foarce...." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifesnotfair Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 From IMDb's trivia section: "He commented in an interview that he was unaware that his voice been dubbed with that of James Earl Jones' until he saw the movie Star Wars (1977) on opening night." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGuy Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I met Prowse several times, the first being in 1965, and the last being when he worked in the sporting dept of Harrods in London in the seventies. No way he was 6'7''. I spoke with him up close and he was the same height as I am. He was considered Britain's strongest man in the mid sixties, and held then the deadlift record at I believe 675lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mac Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Did you have your 70's heels on John? He is tall but not that tall I agree, I expect it is a bit of "Hollywood Magic" - I cannot recall how tall he was "claimed" to be during his weightlifting days. More germanely, he did have big hands however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Mathison Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Cool info in this thread. thanks guys. My 5 year old is star wars bonkers right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twig Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 "Ooh Arr Luke, use ye foarce...."The foarce is stroang in this'un Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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