Actor Clive Revill dies at 94

Actor Clive Revill, perhaps best known for a role in which he was heard but not seen, died March 11 at 94 following a battle with dementia. Revill had numorous roles on stage and screen, but movie audiences are most familiar with his voice as he was the original voice of Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back. Unfortunately, Revill's voice was replaced with that of Ian McDiarmid, who went on to play Palpatine in Return of the Jedi, and the original three prequels. He also voiced Alfred on 1992's Batman: The Animated Series.

The New Zealand-born Revill was working at a bank when he met Laurence Olivier and his wife Vivien Leigh, who were on holiday in the country. Olivier invited Revill to study acting at his Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol and he raised money to fly to England in 1950. Revill nearly gave up and returned home, but he regained his confidence and made his Broadway debut in Mr. Pickwick in 1952. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1964 and starred as Jean-Paul Marat, with Patrick Magee as the Marquis de Sade, in a production of Marat/Sade. It was back to Broadway in a 1967 production of the musical Sherry!, followed by appearances in The Incomparable Max (1971), Sherlock Holmes (1975) as Moriarty, and as Clare Quilty in a 1981 adaptation of Lolita.

Revill made his TV debut in the UK in 1955 in the TV movie Strike. He had a regular role in the British TV series The Boy with Two Heads, and in the 1983 US TV series Wizards and Warriors. Other notable TV credits include The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Inside Man, Maude, The Great Houdini, The Feather and Father Gang, The New Avengers, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Columbo, Centennial, The Scarlett O'Hara War, Nobody's Perfect, Vega$, Hart to Hart, Remington Steele, Dynasty, The Facts of Life, T.J. Hooker, Three's a Crowd, The Fall Guy, Faerie Tale Theatre, Magnum P.I., The Twilight Zone, The Love Boat, Newhart, Sledge Hammer!, MacGyver, Bustin' Loose, The New Gidget, Murder, She Wrote, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Dear John, Hunter, Get a Life, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Babylon 5, Murphy Brown, Lois & Clark, Touched by an Angel, Step by Step, Clueless, and The Closer.

Revill provided voice work after The Empire Strikes Back for several animated TV series including The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Dragon's Lair, The Transformers, Pound Puppies, Moon Dreamers, My Little Pony, Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, DuckTales, Snorks, Hound Town, The Smurfs, Paddington Bear, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures, Tiny Toon Adventures, Little Mermaid's Island, Tom & Jerry Kids Show, The Legend of Prince Valiant, The Little Mermaid, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Puss in Boots, Freakazoid!, Johnny Bravo, Pinky and the Brain, Godzilla: The Series, Pepper Ann, Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future, Mickey's Twice Upon Christmas, and video games The Hobbit, The Bard's Tale, Gothic 3, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Jeanne d'Arc, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Film credits include The Horse's Mouth, The Headless Ghost, Bunny Lake is Missing, Modesty Blaise, Fathom, The Shoes of the Fisherman, The Assassination Bureau, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, Escape to the Sun, Avanti!, The Legend of Hell House, The Little Prince, Ghost in the Noonday Sun, Galileo, One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing, Matilda, Zorro: The Gay Blade, Rumpelstiltskin, The Emperor's New Clothes, C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud, Mack the Knife, Let Him Have It, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Intrepid, Return to Never Land, Crime and Punishment, Gentlemen Broncos and The Queen of Spain, his last credit in 2016.

Revill earned a Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Avanti!, and two TonyAward nominations for 1961's Irma la Douce, as the Bar-des-Inquiets proprietor Bob-Le-Hotu, and for his role as Fagin in 1963's Oliver!