Music, Style & Culture

Sword Master Bob Anderson: 1922 - 2012

He shaped epic battle scenes in Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and The Princess Bride.

The first day of 2012 claimed the sad passing of a behind-the-scenes film legend.

Sword master Bob Anderson may not have been a household name, but he was responsible for some of the most iconic moments in cinema. The former Olympic fencer was Darth Vader during the infamous light sabre duels in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and choreographed the epic swordfights in Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Anderson died peacefully in hospital on 1st January at the age of 89, leaving an incredible legacy. An ex-Marine who served in WWII and a professional fencer, he got his Hollywood break in 1953, coaching Errol Flynn in The Master of Ballantrae. After stunt work in a couple of Bond films, he was hired as sword master by Stanley Kubrick for 1974's Barry Lyndon.

His subsequent work on the Star Wars films was vital, if underappreciated. As the man in the Darth Vader costume during the fight scenes, he shaped the iconic figure alongside credited actor David Prowse, and voice star James Earl Jones. Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, revealed Anderson's contribution in 1983: "It was always supposed to be a secret, but I finally told George [Lucas] - the director - 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."



It was Lord of the Rings that brought Anderson's work to the public's attention, with Peter Jackson's love of documenting every step of the production. Cast and crew lavished praise on their sword master, who taught them how to make the Battle of Helm's Deep and every other battle in the trilogy, so authentic and epic. Watch one of the documentary features below.



With renewed interest in his work during LotR mania, I had the pleasure of spending the day with Anderson as his guest assistant at London Film and Comic Con in March 2004 (cue embarrassing photo). Despite being in his 80s, he cheerfully met the hordes of fans that flocked to him, representing every facet of his career. Gracious, humble and good-natured in the face of those waving replica weapons perilously close to their hero, a few hours of snatched anecdotes were not enough to grasp the enormity of Anderson's career.

I asked for his greatest experience working in film, and the answer was The Princess Bride. Rob Reiner's infectiously charming and fantastical 1987 comedy adventure featured one of the most elegant and gentlemanly duels of all time. As the Dread Pirate Roberts and Inigo Montoya, Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin performed all the swashbuckling moves themselves under Anderson's tutelage. Relive the magic moment below.



Fencing Academy president Philip Bruce paid tribute on the The British Academy of Fencing website, which broke the news of Anderson's death: "He was truly one of our greatest fencing masters and a world-class film fight director and choreographer and both the fencing community and film world will miss him."

As sword master, Anderson also worked on Highlander, First Knight, The Mask of Zorro and Die Another Day. His final film was a fitting one - he had returned to Middle Earth to work on Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, proving himself to be an indispensible figure in stunt work. From Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn to Antonio Banderas' Zorro, his masterful work will live on in many memorable scenes. A huge loss to filmmaking, our thoughts are with his wife and three children.