By Pete Vilmur
Though a privileged few can claim to have famously worn the iconic Darth Vader costume before the cameras in Episodes III-VI, none are more intimately familiar with the fit of the Dark Lord's original duds than Kermit Eller. That's because Eller, who nowadays goes by his middle name Bryce ("The whole Muppet thing just got old"), was the Vader fans saw, met, shook hands with, and asked for autographs at countless malls, charity events, and awards ceremonies throughout the late '70s and early '80s. For five years, Eller played the Vader among us.
Braving hot weather, a breakneck schedule of appearances, and pressing masses of awestruck fans both young and old, Eller's incognito career as the man in black wasn't strictly limited to street appearances. He was actually the Vader fans saw dancing with Donny & Marie, posing for a famous poster pin-up, presenting Oscars at the Academy Awards, and immortalizing the Dark Lord's footprints in front of the Chinese Theatre. More than a mere publicity gimmick, Eller's Vader had unwittingly become Star Wars' liaison on Earth.
Though Eller's Vader provided one of pop culture's most enduring figures to the masses, his five-year stint donning the black armor and helmet both in the street and on television went by-in-large unnoticed. Occasionally, a reporter was able to coax Eller's name into print, but for the most part, his career as Vader-on-Earth remained safely anonymous.
Eller's role as galactic go-between started casually enough, initiated by a friend who went asking for a t-shirt at the Star Wars Corporation offices on the Universal Studios lot in 1977.
"I was working in the lab at Don Post Studios where we were making movie props and over-the-head masks," remembers Eller, who had worked on the Mayor McCheese and Big Mac costumes used for McDonald's commercials before Don Post landed the license to do Star Wars masks. "One of the guys working in the lab, a guy by the name of Bob Short, came back from a trip over to Lucasfilm to get a sign-off on a [mask] sculpture. He came back wearing this really cool Star Wars t-shirt, and I said, 'Wow that's a great t-shirt! Can you get me one of those?' So a few days later he went over to the Universal lot, Building 426A, and talked to [Star Wars publicist] Charley Lippincott."
Eller understands their brief conversation went something like this:
Short: "Hey, do you have any more of those t-shirts?"
Lippincott: "Whatever we've got left is in a box in the corner. But sorry, all we've got left is extra large."
Short: "That's fine, it's not for me."
Lippincott: "You actually know someone who can wear one of those?"
Short: "Yeah."
Lippincott: "How big is he?"
Short: "He's about 6'5"."
Lippincott: "What kind of build is he?"
Short: "He's got kinda big shoulders and stuff like that."
Lippincott: "Well, how would he like to play Darth Vader?"
