He was born in Hampshire on September 15, 1922 and during World War II he was a member of the British Royal Marines. He used his sword fighting skills in many movies starting with "The Master of Ballantrae", based on the book by Robert Louis Stevenson. During the filming he accidentally stabbed Errol Flynn in the leg. Anderson was the person dressed as Darth Vader in the sword fights in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi". He also arranged the sword fights in all three of the Lord of the Rings movies. Other movie credits included the James Bond movies, "From Russia With Love" and "Die Another Day", "The Princess Bride", "The Three Musketeers (1993 movie)", "The Mask of Zorro", and "The Legend of Zorro".