# Clive Revill
**Clive Revill** (Clive Selsby Revill; 18 April 1930 – 11 March 2025) was a New Zealand stage, film and television actor who spent most of his career in Britain and the United States, was twice nominated for a Tony Award on Broadway, and provided the original voice of Emperor Palpatine in *The Empire Strikes Back* (1980).[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 18 April 1930, Wellington, New Zealand; 11 March 2025, aged 94[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) |
| Training | Trained as an accountant; stage debut as Sebastian in *Twelfth Night*, Auckland, 1950; Old Vic school in London[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) |
| Broadway debut | 1952, as Sam Weller in *The Pickwick Papers*[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) |
| Tony nominations | *Irma La Douce* (1960) and as Fagin in *Oliver!*[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) |
| Signature Shakespeare role | Barabas in Marlowe's *The Jew of Malta*, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1964, which his Guardian obituarist called his greatest performance[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) |
| Film honors | Golden Globe nomination as hotel manager Carlo Carlucci in Billy Wilder's *Avanti!* (1972)[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) |
| Star Wars | Voice of Emperor Palpatine in the original 1980 release of *The Empire Strikes Back*; dubbed over by Ian McDiarmid in the 2004 DVD release[2](https://masterworksbroadway.com/artist/clive-revill/) |
## Early life and training
Revill was born in Wellington, the son of Eleanor (née Neel) and Malet Revill, and was educated at Rongotai College and Victoria University in [Wellington](https://www.edgepedia.org/wellington).[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) He trained as an accountant, but changed course after playing Sebastian in a 1950 Auckland production of *Twelfth Night*.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) The Stage's obituary gives a slightly different account of the job he left, saying a meeting with [Laurence Olivier](https://www.edgepedia.org/laurence-olivier), then touring New Zealand in 1950, led him to abandon work as an actuary in a bank and travel to England.[3](https://www.thestage.co.uk/obituaries--archive/obituaries/clive-revill-stage-screen-actor) He enrolled at the Old Vic Theatre School and made a Broadway debut in 1952 as Sam Weller in *The Pickwick Papers*.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) • [2](https://masterworksbroadway.com/artist/clive-revill/)
Back in Britain he spent two years at the Ipswich Rep and made a London debut in 1955 at the Arts Theatre in Peter Hall's production of Vivian Ellis's children's musical *Listen to the Wind*.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) His first television role, a leading one, was in *The Makepeace Story* (1955), directed by [Tony Richardson](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-richardson) for the BBC, in which [John Osborne](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-osborne) and [Maggie Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/maggie-smith) also made their television debuts in walk-on parts.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary)
## Stage career
**Stratford and Peter Brook.** Revill played two seasons, 1956 to 1958, at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in [Stratford-upon-Avon](https://www.edgepedia.org/stratford-upon-avon), taking roles that included the First Player in *Hamlet*, Barnardine in *Measure for Measure*, Cloten in *Cymbeline*, and Trinculo in [Peter Brook](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-brook)'s production of *The Tempest* with [John Gielgud](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-gielgud) as Prospero.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) Brook then cast him as third lead in the musical *Irma La Douce* (1958), a jack-in-the-box barman he played for two years at the Lyric before taking the role to New York in 1960 and winning a Tony nomination.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) His second Tony nomination came three seasons later as Fagin in Lionel Bart's *Oliver!*; Ron Moody had introduced the role in London.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary)
In 1964 he joined the [Royal Shakespeare Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-shakespeare-company) at the Aldwych Theatre to play [Jean-Paul Marat](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-paul-marat) in Brook's production of *Marat/Sade*, alongside Patrick Magee, Glenda Jackson and [Ian Richardson](https://www.edgepedia.org/ian-richardson), and played Barabas in Clifford Williams's revival of Marlowe's *The Jew of Malta*, the performance his obituarist singled out as his greatest.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) He never returned to Stratford.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) At the Chichester Festival in 1968 he played Caliban in *The Tempest*, the general in Peter Ustinov's *The Unknown Soldier and His Wife*, and Mr Antrobus in Thornton Wilder's *The Skin of Our Teeth*.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary)
**Broadway musicals and plays.** Masterworks Broadway records that he played Ko-Ko in *The Mikado* at Sadler's Wells in 1962, took the central role of Sheridan Whiteside in the 1967 Broadway musical *Sherry!*, and appeared on Broadway as [Max Beerbohm](https://www.edgepedia.org/max-beerbohm) in *The Incomparable Max* (1971), as Moriarty in William Gillette's *Sherlock Holmes* (taking over in 1975 opposite John Wood), and as Clare Quilty in [Edward Albee](https://www.edgepedia.org/edward-albee)'s adaptation of Nabokov's *Lolita*.[2](https://masterworksbroadway.com/artist/clive-revill/) The Guardian dates the *Lolita* appearance to 1980 and describes it as his last major Broadway appearance, a commercially disastrous production in which he played the nemesis to [Donald Sutherland](https://www.edgepedia.org/donald-sutherland)'s professor.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) He later succeeded George Rose, who died in 1988, on the US national tour of *The Mystery of Edwin Drood*.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0720890/)
## Film and British television
Over roughly a decade Revill made a string of supporting film appearances: [Otto Preminger](https://www.edgepedia.org/otto-preminger)'s *Bunny Lake is Missing* (1965) with Laurence Olivier and Noël Coward, *Kaleidoscope* (1966) with Warren Beatty and Susannah York, Joseph Losey's *Modesty Blaise* (1966) with Monica Vitti and Dirk Bogarde, and Basil Dearden's *The Assassination Bureau* (1969) with Oliver Reed and Diana Rigg.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) A gift for accents brought him to Billy Wilder, who cast him twice: as Rogozhin in *The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes* (1970) with Robert Stephens, and as the flustered hotel manager Carlo Carlucci in *Avanti!* (1972) with Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills, earning a Golden Globe nomination for the latter.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) • [5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-40584/biographie/) His first credited film role is given by Masterworks Broadway as *The Headless Ghost* (1959), after unlisted appearances in a number of British films.[2](https://masterworksbroadway.com/artist/clive-revill/)
In British television, the Guardian identifies 1969 to 1978 as his career pinnacle, with leading work in original writing of the period: Nigel Kneale's *Bam! Pow! Zap!* (1969), a satire on cinematic violence; Alun Owen's *The Piano Player* (1972); and David Hare's *Licking Hitler* (1978), about the black propaganda unit broadcasting to Germany during the Second World War.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) His extensive television credits also include *The Avengers*, *Columbo*, *Hart to Hart*, *Dynasty*, *Magnum, P.I.*, *Remington Steele*, *Murder, She Wrote*, *Babylon 5*, and *Star Trek: The Next Generation*.[2](https://masterworksbroadway.com/artist/clive-revill/) • [1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary)
## The Emperor's voice
In the original 1980 theatrical release of *The Empire Strikes Back*, Revill voiced Emperor Palpatine in his brief holographic scene, delivering the line "The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi." The character was portrayed physically by Marjorie Eaton.[2](https://masterworksbroadway.com/artist/clive-revill/) • [6](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Clive_Revill) For the 2004 DVD release, Ian McDiarmid's face and voice were substituted for continuity with the later films, replacing both Revill and Eaton; Revill nevertheless continued to receive fan mail for the role.[2](https://masterworksbroadway.com/artist/clive-revill/) • [6](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Clive_Revill) • [7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0720890/bio/)
The film began a second career in voice work. He voiced Kickback in *The Transformers*, played Alfred in the pilot of *Batman: The Animated Series*, and contributed to animated series including *Alvin & the Chipmunks*, *Dragon's Lair*, *My Little Pony*, *Snorks* and *Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future*, as well as video games in the *Star Wars*, *Transformers* and *Batman* franchises and a Dr. Doom role in *Marvel: Ultimate Alliance*.[3](https://www.thestage.co.uk/obituaries--archive/obituaries/clive-revill-stage-screen-actor) • [8](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/clive-revill) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0720890/) • [9](https://wizardsandwarriors.org/show/articles/starwars.htm)
## Later years
Revill moved to Los Angeles in the late 1970s, and his career there did not gather the momentum his British work had enjoyed; the Hollywood pilot he went to make did not become a series, and his subsequent screen work consisted largely of guest appearances and voice roles.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) Two marriages, to Valerie Nelson and to Suzi Schor (married 1978), ended in divorce; he was survived by a daughter, Kate, from the second marriage.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary) • [10](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/revill-clive-1930-clive-revel) His enthusiasms were golf and flying, and he held a pilot's license.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary)
## References
1. [Clive Revill obituary, The Guardian (Michael Coveney, 4 April 2025)](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/04/clive-revill-obituary)
2. [Clive Revill, Masterworks Broadway artist profile](https://masterworksbroadway.com/artist/clive-revill/)
3. [Obituary: Clive Revill, stage and screen actor, The Stage](https://www.thestage.co.uk/obituaries--archive/obituaries/clive-revill-stage-screen-actor)
4. [Clive Revill, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0720890/)
5. [Clive Revill, biographie, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-40584/biographie/)
6. [Clive Revill, Wookieepedia](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Clive_Revill)
7. [Clive Revill, Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0720890/bio/)
8. [Clive Revill, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/clive-revill)
9. ["Clive Revill: Voice of the Emperor", Star Wars Insider 49 (excerpt)](https://wizardsandwarriors.org/show/articles/starwars.htm)
10. [Revill, Clive 1930–, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/revill-clive-1930-clive-revel)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › New Zealand actors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license