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Clive Revill, a seasoned stage actor who made his mark in the movies as the first voice of Emperor Palpatine in “The Empire Strikes Back,” has died at 94.
His daughter Kate confirmed to THR that he died after battling dementia on March 11 in L.A. at a care facility.
Revill was born April 18, 1930, in New Zealand. By 1950, he had made his stage debut, and he went on to appear seven times on Broadway after being taken under the wings of Sir Laurence Olivier and his wife Vivien Leigh, both Oscar winners.
Revill was Tony-nominated for his work in “Irma La Douce” (1961) and “Oliver!” (1963), in which played Fagin.
Among his films, he is remembered for “Bunny Lake Is Missing” (1965) for Otto Preminger, “Kaleidoscope” (1966), “Modesty Blaise” (1966), Billy Wilder’s “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes” (1970), “The Legend of Hell House” (1973), “Zorro: The Gay Blade” (1981), “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” (1993), and “Dracula: Dead and Loving It” (1995).
He earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in “Avanti!” (1972).
Still, his most famous work was voicing Emperor Palpatine in the film that was later retitled “Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back” in 1980. “There is a great disturbance in the force,” he uttered in the film.
By 2004, his voice was replaced by Ian McDiarmid’s after McDiarmid assumed the role in four films of the series.
Revill’s work extended to many TV guest spots, perhaps most famously on Peter Falk’s last original-run “Columbo” episode in 1978.
Revill was twice married. He is survived by his daughter and his granddaughter.
