The character of Darth Vader, in the original Star Wars trilogy, has long been known to be a fusion of two people: bodybuilder David Prowse for (of course) the body, and the now-iconic James Earl Jones for the voice. But apparently there was a secret third component to this armored villain: sword-master and Hollywood fencing coach Bob Anderson, who took over the costume for the most memorable lightsaber battles. (Amazing what you can do with actors when everything recognizable is concealed, isn’t it?)

It is Anderson that geekdom now mourns.