Clive Revill, Voice of Emperor Palpatine in ‘Empire Strikes Back,’ Dies at 94

Martin Holmes March 27, 2025, 7:57 am

Veteran actor Clive Revill, who voiced Emperor Palpatine in the second Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back, has died. He was 94.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Revill passed away on Tuesday, March 11, at a care facility in Sherman Oaks, California, after a battle with dementia, per his daughter, Kate Revill.

Born on April 18 1930, in Wellington, New Zealand, Revill trained initially to be an accountant before deciding to pursue a career in acting. He made his stage debut in 1950 in a production of Twelfth Night before moving to London to study acting at the Old Vic Theatre. Revill appeared in several Shakespeare productions, including Hamlet, Julius Caesar, and The Tempest.

He made his Broadway debut in 1952, playing Sam Weller in The Pickwick Papers. He also played Fagin in Oliver!, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Revill also received a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his part in Irma La Douce.

On screen, Revill featured in many British films throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including Kaleidoscope (1966), The Double Man (1967), and A Severed Head (1970). He also starred alongside Laurence Olivier in the 1965 film Bunny Lake Is Missing. Revill made his U.S. film debut in A Fine Madness in 1966.

Cindyana Santangelo, Who Appeared in 'Married With Children' & 'ER,' Dies Suddenly at 58

He is perhaps best known as the voice of the evil Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious in the original 1980 version of The Empire Strikes Back. In the 2004 DVD release, Revill’s voice was replaced by Ian McDiarmid, who had taken over the role for Return of the Jedi and subsequent Star Wars movies.

Revill also had a number of television credits, appearing in the likes of Columbo, Dynasty, Magnum, P.I., The Love Boat, Remington Steele, Murder, She Wrote, Newhart, MacGyver, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.