True legend: Sword Master Bob Anderson, Olympic fencer, renowned film fight choreographer spanning more than 50 years

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Robert James Gilbert Anderson (15 September 1922 - 1 January 2012) was an English Olympic fencer, and a renowned film fight choreographer, with a cinema career that spanned more than 50 years and included films such as Highlander, The Princess Bride, The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and Die Another Day. He was regarded as the premier choreographer of Hollywood sword-fighting, and during his career he coached many actors in swordsmanship, including Errol Flynn, Sean Connery, Antonio Banderas and Johnny Depp. He also appeared as a stunt double for Darth Vader's light-saber battles in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

Miscellaneous crew
* The Hobbit (2012): Sword Master[5]
* Alatriste (2006): Sword Master
* The Legend of Zorro (2005): Sword Master
* The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): Sword Master
* Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003): Additional Sword Trainer
o He can be seen speaking on the DVD special edition, 23m 30s into the 'making of' presentation.
* The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002): Sword Master
* Die Another Day (2002): Sword Master
* The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001): Sword Master
* The Parent Trap (1998): Fencing Consultant
* The Mask of Zorro (1998): Sword Master
* The Phantom (1996): Sword Master
* First Knight (1995): Sword Master
* The Three Musketeers (1993): Sword Master
* Highlander:The Series (1992-1994): Sword Master
* By the Sword (1991): Sword Master
* The Princess Bride (1987): Sword Master
* Highlander (1986): Sword Master
* Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977): Fight Arranger (uncredited)
* Barry Lyndon (1975): Fencing Coach
* Kidnapped (1971): Fight Arranger
* Don't Lose Your Head (1966): Fight Arranger (uncredited)
* The Moonraker (1958) Fencing Coach

Stunts

* Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983): Stunt Performer
* Superman II (1980): Stunts (uncredited)
* Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980): Stunt Double for Darth Vader
* Candleshoe (1977): Stunt Arranger
* Star Wars (1977): Stunts/Stunt Double (uncredited)
* One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing (1975): Stunt Arranger
* Kidnapped (1971): Fight Arranger
* Casino Royale (1967): Stunts (uncredited)
* From Russia with Love (1963): Stunts (uncredited)
* The Guns of Navarone (1961): Stunts (uncredited)
* Il maestro di Don Giovanni (1954): Stunts
* The Master of Ballantrae (1953): Stunts (uncredited)

Actor

* Reclaiming the Blade (2009): himself
* Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980): Imperial Officer
* Candleshoe (1977): Hood (uncredited)
* Doctor Who (1968): Fighting Guard in the serial The Enemy of the World

Anderson joined the Royal Marines and won several combined services titles in the sport of fencing. He served in the Mediterranean during WWII. As a competitive fencer, he represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games in 1952, and the World Championships in 1950 and 1953 in the sabre event. He finished tied for fifth in the team sabre event at Helsinki in 1952.

After his retirement from fencing competition, he studied under Roger Crosnier and was appointed the first official British National Coach. During the late 1950s through the 1970s he travelled around Britain, and between fencing courses he combined his official duties with television and film work. Eventually emigrating to Canada, he went on to become technical director of the Canadian Fencing Association in Ottawa. During the 1960s and 1970s he was also the president of the British Academy of Fencing.

Anderson's cinema career began in 1953 when he choreographed fights for and coached Errol Flynn in The Master of Ballantrae. During rehearsal for a scene he accidentally slashed Flynn on his thigh, leading to notoriety in Hollywood as "the man who stabbed Errol Flynn". He went on to work as a stunt performer and/or fight choreographer in films such as The Guns of Navarone and the Bond films From Russia With Love and Casino Royale. His stature in Hollywood was cemented when he was selected by Stanley Kubrick in 1974 to act as the sword master for Barry Lyndon.

Anderson subsequently went on to be involved in all three of the original Star Wars films. Anderson did not receive much recognition for his work for years after their initial release, in part because David Prowse was so lauded for his portrayal that director George Lucas did not want to detract from the boost it gave the actor's career. In a 1983 interview, however, Mark Hamill paid homage to Anderson's contribution, saying: "Bob Anderson was the man who actually did Vader's fighting. It was always supposed to be a secret, but I finally told George 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."

Anderson continued to work in cinema for the next thirty years, and was responsible for the sword work in many films, including Highlander, The Princess Bride, The Three Musketeers, The Mask of Zorro, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Shortly before his death he was working on The Hobbit. He had a reputation for being a perfectionist, with director Martin Campbell giving him the nickname "Grumpy Bob". Anderson was interviewed at length for the 2009 documentary on cinematic sword-fighting, Reclaiming the Blade where he commented, "I never took up the sword, I think the sword took me up." Anderson died on New Year's Day 2012 in a West Sussex hospital at the age of 89.

In Memory of a Swordsman

I suppose I’m getting known for my geek-filled posts on here, but this one had to be posted. Bob Anderson is a name not everyone might know, let alone Robert James Gilbert Anderson. If you grew up in the 70?s or 80?s and were a sci-fi/fantasy fan then this man was undoubtedly part of your childhood. Even more recently, he’s had his hands in the fantasy/sci-fi world.

Though he is no longer with us; whenever anyone watches Star Wars and enjoys the fight scenes with Darth Vader, whenever someone sits riveted by the fight scene between Inigo Montoya & Westley on that high rocky cliff overlooking the ocean, whenever anyone sits in enjoyment of his craft, his memory lives on.

Below is a list of some of the films in which Bob Anderson was Sword Master, Additional Sword Trainer, & Fight Arranger:

The Hobbit, Alatriste, The Legend of Zorro, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Die Another Day, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Mask of Zorro, The Phantom, Highlander:The Series, The Princess Bride, & *Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Bob Anderson dies at 89; sword-fight teacher to the stars
Bob Anderson's first silver screen fencing pupil was Errol Flynn. The British Olympian went on to become a go-to teacher, film fight director and fencing choreographer for movies including 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Star Wars.'

Ten days before Bob Anderson headed to the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki as part of the British fencing team, he responded to a call from a British film studio in need of three fencers to coach the lead actors for sword-fighting scenes in a new pirate movie. The movie was "The Master of Ballantrae," starring veteran Hollywood swashbuckler Errol Flynn.

Anderson, 89, who became an Olympic fencing coach while carving out a more-than-50-year career as a fencing trainer to the stars and a movie sword-fight choreographer and stunt double, died early New Year's Day at a hospital in England, the British Academy of Fencing announced. The cause of death was not disclosed.

"He was truly one of our greatest fencing masters and a world-class film fight director and choreographer," Philip Bruce, the fencing academy's president, said on its website.

Over the decades, Anderson was the go-to sword master for films such as "Barry Lyndon," "Highlander," "The Princess Bride," "The Three Musketeers," "First Knight," "The Mask of Zorro," "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and "The Lord of the Rings" films.

Among his famous pupils were Sean Connery, David Niven, Charlton Heston, Peter O'Toole, Roger Moore, Michael Caine, Mandy Patinkin, Richard Gere, Liv Tyler, Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins. Anderson also doubled for David Prowse as Darth Vader during lightsaber duels in two "Star Wars" films — "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi."

Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, said in a 1983 interview with Starlog magazine that Anderson's doubling as Vader "was always supposed to be a secret, but I finally told George [Lucas] I didn't think it was fair anymore. 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."

Anderson's expertise earned the lasting respect of Lucas. "Bob Anderson was essential in defining what a lightsaber duel would look like," Lucas said in a statement to The Times on Tuesday. "He was the Jedi Master of the original trilogy, training the actors to duel with a new kind of weapon. "In 'Empire' and 'Jedi,' Bob donned Darth Vader's cape and helmet to battle Luke Skywalker in all of the amazing lightsaber battles. It was pure movie magic that Bob became Vader."

Anderson took his movie work seriously.

"We used to call him Grumpy Bob on the set, he was such a perfectionist," Martin Campbell, director of "The Mask of Zorro" and "The Legend of Zorro," told the New York Times in 2001. "He was incredibly inventive and also refused to treat any of the actors as stars. They would complain about the intensity of the training, but having worked with him, there's nobody I'd rather use."

For Anderson, there was nothing like a good old-fashioned movie sword fight. "The sword is the ultimate weapon," he said in a 1995 Los Angeles Times interview. "It's not so threatening shooting at someone at 20 or 30 paces away or while hiding behind things. When you get into a sword fight, you're standing toe-to-toe with someone who's trying to kill you and you're looking him in the eye — now that's thrilling."

Born Sept. 15, 1922, in Gosport, Hampshire, England, Anderson served with the British Royal Marines during World War II. He was on board the HMS Coventry in the Mediterranean when it was bombed, and he spent eight hours adrift before being rescued.

Anderson, who learned to fence while in the military, became a fencing champion in England after the war and represented Britain at the 1950 and 1953 world championships, as well as the 1952 Olympics.

Errol Flynn was already an experienced movie swordsman when Anderson coached him for "The Master of Ballantrae." The legendary actor was so impressed with Anderson that he insisted that he rejoin the production after the Olympics ended.

Playing a French pirate during one duel shot on location in Sicily, Anderson accidentally nicked Flynn in the leg with his sword. "He said it was his fault because he had been distracted by some fans who came into his eye line and he forgot to parry, and I stabbed him," Anderson recalled in a 2004 interview with the Ottawa Citizen.

In a 1997 Toronto Star interview, Anderson said: "I believe I learned as much from Flynn as I taught him. In fact, Flynn refused to 'kill' anyone else. I think I died six times! I also doubled as Flynn, so there are parts in the movie when I even kill myself."

After competing in the 1952 Olympics, Anderson went on to coach six subsequent British Olympic teams — from the games in Melbourne in 1956 to Montreal in 1976. Anderson served as technical director of the Canadian Fencing Assn. from 1980 to 1988 in Ottawa, where he developed the Canadian Olympic fencing program. He also wrote a number of books on fencing.

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