Clive Revill, who provided the original voice of Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars, has died at the age of 94.
Best known for his work as the Emperor in 1980’s Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Revill passed away on March 11 at a care facility in Los Angeles after a battle with dementia, as told to The Hollywood Reporter by his daughter Kate.
Revill’s voice was used for a key scene in the film between Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) and Palpatine, where Vader speaks to the Emperor via hologram. He was eventually replaced with the voice of Ian McDiarmid, who went on to play Palpatine in person, once the film was released on DVD in 2004.
Speaking of the role in a 2015 interview, the actor said: “I got a call from the director, Irvin Kershner, who I’d worked with on A Fine Madness.
“He needed a voice for the Emperor who would be only appearing as a holographic image. So I tried it several times and found it worked best with no emotion whatsoever.”
Recalling experiences meeting fans, Revill said: “They come up to me and I tell them to get close and shut their eyes. Then I say (in the Emperor’s haunting voice) “There is a great disturbance in the Force.” People turn white and one nearly fainted!”
On his replacement, he added: “I was the original Emperor, but they wanted continuity with the later movies. They made a good choice with McDiarmid.”
Outside of Star Wars, Revill appeared in two movies by filmmaker Billy Wilder – 1970’s The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes and 1972’s Avanti!, the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. He also voiced Alfred the butler in Batman: The Animated Series in 1992.
He was also a star of the stage as well as the screen, appearing seven times on Broadway and receiving two Tony nominations.
Revill is survived by family including his daughter Kate and granddaughter Kayla.