Darth Vader actor David Prowse is absent from the latest Star Wars movie because he is battling dementia.The British star revealed he would have loved to reprise his role in the latest installment of the blockbuster sci-fi series but his health woes mean he is unable to remember lines.

Despite being medicated for the condition, Prowse fears his tablets are not working and he has not "improved at all".

The 79 year old tells Britain's Daily Mirror that fans quiz him about a return to the franchise but he insists Darth Vader is gone.

He says, "Now I would probably forget my lines. But it wouldn't have mattered what it was, I would have loved to have done something in it - even if it was just a cameo. Sometimes I can't remember things I did yesterday. That worries me more than not remembering something 20 years ago.