Dave Prowse, the Bristol actor who played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, has died aged 85.

The weightlifter-turned-actor, who also earned an MBE for playing the Green Cross Code Man to promote road safety, died after a short illness, his agent Thomas Bowington said in a Facebook post.

Prowse won the role playing Vader due to his impressive 6ft 6in physique, but with his West Country accent deemed not quite suitable, the part was instead voiced by James Earl Jones.

“May the force be with him, always!” Mr Bowington said in a statement to the BBC.

The Herald: Darth Vader, aka Dave Prowse

“Though famous for playing many monsters – for myself, and all who knew Dave and worked with him, he was a hero in our lives.”

Mr. Bowington called the actor’s death, after a short illness, “a truly and deeply heart-wrenching loss for us and millions of fans all over the world”.

Prowse represented England in weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games in the early 1960s before embarking on an acting career.

He was reportedly spotted by Star Wars director George Lucas when playing a bodyguard in the 1971 film A Clockwork Orange and invited to audition for the roles of Darth Vader and Chewbacca.

He once told the BBC he chose Vader over his hairy co-star because “you always remember the bad guys”.

Film director Edgar Wright paid tribute to Prowse, describing him as the man who “stopped a whole generation of kiddies from being mown down in the street”.

He said: “As a kid Dave Prowse couldn’t be more famous to me; stalking along corridors as evil incarnate in the part of Darth Vader & stopping a whole generation of kiddies from being mown down in street as the Green Cross Code man. Rest in Peace, Bristol’s finest.”

Actor Daniel Logan, who played Boba Fett in Star Wars: Episode II Attack Of The Clones, posted a picture to Twitter with Dave Prowse, writing: "Sad to hear of the passing of a #StarWars family member. RIP Dave Prowse.

"Darth Vader wouldn’t be the same without you in the costume. We had many fun times & laughs at cons together over the years.

"Glad to have been able to call you a friend. Rest now and be one with the Force!"