
New Zealand-born actor Clive Revill, 94, died on March 11. While he spent most of his career onstage (both on the West End and Broadway, where he was Tony-nominated for Irma la Douce and Oliver!), younger fans know hm best as the voice of Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back (would you think less of me if you knew I have never seen a Star War?). Beginning in 1955, Revill was seen in such films and TV shows as Bunny Lake is Missing, Modesty Blaise, A Fine Madness, Fathom, Avanti!, Maude, Columbo, Centennial, Wizards and Warriors, Dynasty, Magnum PI, Newhart, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, and as voices in countless cartoons and video games. By the early ‘70s, he said, "I have never had to take another [non-acting] job. I didn't have to go out and sell shoes or dig up the roads or anything like that. I always just went from one to the other." He also recalled teasing fans at Star Wars conventions: “They come up to me and I tell them to get close and shut their eyes. Then I say, 'There is a great disturbance in the Force.' People turn white, and one nearly fainted!”
