The legendary voice actor behind one of the “Star Wars” franchise’s most chilling villains died just weeks before his 95th birthday.
Clive Revill, known for playing the voice of Emperor Palpatine in “The Empire Strikes Back,” died on Mar. 11 at a care facility in Sherman Oaks, Calif.
The two-time Tony nominee’s daughter, Kate Revill, revealed that he had been battling dementia, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Revill was born on April 18, 1930, in Wellington, New Zealand, and started working as an accountant before he “abruptly” decided to exchange financial documents for stage scripts.
He transitioned into a theatrical actor in his early 30s and made his Broadway debut in the show “Mr. Pickwick” at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (formerly the Plymouth Theater).
The versatile performer scored two Tony Award nominations in back-to-back projects in the early 60s.
He was first nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his character of Bob-Le-Hotu in “Irma La Douce,” but he lost to Dick Van Dyke in “Bye, Bye Birdie.”
Two years later, he was nominated for “Best Actor” for his performance as Fagin in the musical “Oliver!”
As the star was building a reputation for himself on stage, including appearing in the BBC’s “Sunday-Night Theatre” episodes, he rounded out his resume by acting in the 1957 television show “The Adventures of Robin Hood” and movies like “Kaleidoscope” and “Fathom” alongside Raquel Welch.
Revill returned to the major awards circuit in 1972, when he was nominated for a Golden Globe award for his role as Carlo Carlucci in the film “Avanti!”
One of the veteran character actor’s most renowned roles hit the big screen in 1980 when he voiced the Emperor in George Lucas’ widely popular franchise film “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.”
Revill delivered the classic line, “There is a great disturbance in the Force.”
According to the Dallas Observer, Revill was given three takes to record the film’s iconic line. The final take was eventually used in the hit film.
The star went on to voice other characters in the Star Wars video games like Dodonna in “Star Wars: X-Wing,” an imperial officer in “Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter” and three additional roles in “Star Wars” The Old Republic.”
Revill spent most of his later years voice acting for video games like “The Hobbit” and took on roles in cartoons like Alfred in 1992’s “Batman: The Animated Series” and Galeo in “Snorks.”
The distinguished performer had two divorces, and welcomed a daughter, Kate, during his second marriage to film producer Suzi Schor-Revill.
