Clive Selsby Revill (18 April 1930 – 11 March 2025) was a New Zealand actor and singer, best known for his performances in musical theatre and the London stage. A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he also starred in numerous films and television programmes, often in character parts. He was a two-time Tony Award nominee, as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Irma La Douce and Best Actor in a Musical for Oliver!.
His film work also included voicing Emperor Palpatine in the original theatrical version of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and roles in Modesty Blaise (1966), The Assassination Bureau (1969), The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), The Legend of Hell House (1973), and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). Revill was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Billy Wilder's Avanti! (1972). Later in his career, he was active as a voice actor in many animated productions and video games.
Early life Clive Selsby Revill was born on 18 April 1930 in Wellington, the son of Eleanor May (née Neel) and Malet Barford Revill. He was educated at Rongotai College and Victoria University of Wellington.
Career Stage Revill originally trained to be an accountant in New Zealand, but decided to change his career path in 1950 when he made his stage debut as Sebastian in Twelfth Night. In the same year, he moved to London, where he studied acting at the Old Vic Theatre School. He appeared in The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company's celebrated 1956–1958 season of productions in Stratford, which included Hamlet, Love's Labour's Lost, The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar and The Tempest. He went on to have such varied stage roles as Bob (narrator) in Irma la Douce, Ratty in Toad of Toad Hall and Jean-Paul Marat in Marat/Sade.
He made his Broadway debut in 1952, playing Sam Weller in The Pickwick Papers, and subsequently appeared in Irma La Douce, The Incomparable Max and Oliver!, for which his Fagin was nominated for a Tony Award. He was also known for his roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas, on both stage and television. He starred in the first national tour of the musical Drood in 1988, replacing George Rose, who was murdered during the run.
Revill also participated in the workshop production of Tom Jones: The Musical, playing the role of Squire Western and reprising it on the cast recording.
Film Revill's red hair and distinctive Mr. Punch-like features often saw him cast as comic eccentrics in a number of British films of the 1960s and 1970s such as Kaleidoscope (1966), Modesty Blaise (1966), The Double Man (1967), Fathom (1967), The Assassination Bureau (1969), A Severed Head (1970), The Black Windmill (1974) and One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975). He also had notable supporting turns in Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) opposite Laurence Olivier, and his American film debut A Fine Madness (1966), as well as a rare leading role in the horror film The Legend of Hell House (1973).
He was often cast as humorous foreign characters (he has played everything from Chinese to Russian). Two of his highest profile roles of this kind were in two films for Billy Wilder: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) and Avanti! (1972), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his part as put-upon hotel manager Carlo Carlucci.
He made his final film appearance in the 2016 Spanish film The Queen of Spain, directed by Fernando Trueba.
Television In the 1978 television miniseries Centennial, he played the Scottish accountant Finlay Perkin. He played both Ko-Ko (the starring role) in The Mikado (which he had played in 1962 at Sadler's Wells Opera), and the title character, John Wellington Wells, in The Sorcerer, for the Brent Walker television series of Gilbert and Sullivan productions, shown by the BBC in 1983.Turnbull, Stephen. "Obituary", Sir Arthur Sullivan Society Magazine, No. 117, Spring 2025
After relocating to the United States, he guest-starred in many television series, such as Columbo (1978, "The Conspirators"); Hart to Hart; Dynasty; Magnum, P.I.; The Love Boat (S9 E22 as Slade 1986); Remington Steele; Murder, She Wrote; Babylon 5; The Feather and Father Gang; Newhart; MacGyver; Dear John; The Fall Guy; Maude; and Star Trek: The Next Generation. He starred as the wizard Vector in the short-lived series Wizards and Warriors.
Voice work Revill was known for his proficiency with accents. He was also known for his voice work in feature-length films and animated series, which includes Alfred Pennyworth in the first three episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, the voice of Chico in the seven episodes of Chico the Rainmaker (The Boy with the Two Heads) (1974), the voice of Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious in the original The Empire Strikes Back (he was replaced by Ian McDiarmid in the 2004 DVD version, though Revill is still credited, to create continuity with Return of the Jedi and the prequel trilogy, as Revill's voice greatly differed from McDiarmid's). Revill has also featured in numerous cartoons such as The Transformers and DuckTales and more video games, including Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Conquest: Frontier Wars.
Personal life Revill was married twice and had a daughter, Kate Selsby Revill, with his second wife.
Death Revill died of complications from dementia at a Sherman Oaks nursing home, on 11 March 2025, at the age of 94.Turnbull, Stephen. "Obituary", Sir Arthur Sullivan Society Magazine, No. 117, Spring 2025, p. 4
Partial stage credits YearTitleRoleVenueNotes1950Twelfth NightSebastian1952Mr. PickwickSam WellerPlymouth Theatre1955Listen to the WindPearsonArts Theatre1957The TempestTrinculoTheatre Royal, Drury LaneToad of Toad HallRatty1958–60Irma La DouceBob-Le-HotuLyric Theatre1960–61Plymouth TheatreNominated–Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical1962The MikadoKo-KoSadler's Wells Theatre1963–64Oliver!FaginImperial TheatreNominated–Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical1964Marat/SadeJean-Paul MaratRoyal Shakespeare CompanyThe Jew of MaltaBarabas1967Sherry!Sheridan WhitesideAlvin Theatre1968–69The Unknown Soldier and His WifeThe GeneralChichester Festival TheatreThe TempestCaliban1969A Who's Who of FlaplandRoyal Court TheatreTheatre Upstairs1971The Incomparable MaxMax BeerbohmRoyale Theatre1974–76Sherlock HolmesProfessor James MoriartyBroadhurst TheatreReplacement1981LolitaClare QuiltyBrooks Atkinson Theatre1981–82The Pirates of PenzanceMajor-General StanleyTour1988DroodWilliam Cartwright, Your Chairman
Filmography Film YearTitleRoleNotes 1956 Reach for the Sky RAF Medical Orderly Uncredited 1958 The Horse's Mouth Art Student 1959 The Headless Ghost Ambrose Dudley 1965 Bunny Lake Is Missing Sgt. Andrews 1966 A Fine Madness Dr. Menken Italian Secret Service Charles Harrison Kaleidoscope Inspector McGinnis Modesty Blaise McWhirter, Sheik Abu Tahir 1967 Fathom Serapkin The Double Man Frank Wheatly 1968 Nobody Runs Forever Joseph The Shoes of the Fisherman Tovarich Vucovich 1969 The Assassination Bureau Cesare Spado 1970 The Buttercup Chain George The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes Rogozhin A Severed Head Alexander Lynch-Gibbon 1972 Avanti! Carlo Carlucci Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture 1973 The Legend of Hell House Dr. Barrett 1974 The Black Windmill Alf Chestermann The Little Prince The Businessman 1975 One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing Quon 1976 The Great Houdini Dundas Slater 1980 The Empire Strikes Back The Emperor (voice) Original theatrical release, replaced by Ian McDiarmid in later releases. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. 1981 Zorro, The Gay Blade Garcia 1986 The Transformers: The Movie Kickback (voice) The Frog Prince King William 1987 Alice Through the Looking Glass Snark, Goat (voice) 1993 Robin Hood: Men in Tights Fire Marshall The Thief and the Cobbler King Nod (voice) 1995 Delta of Venus Radio Announcer (voice) 2002 Return to Never Land Elderly Officer, Narrator (voices) 2003 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure Additional voices 2004 Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas Narrator (voice) 2012 Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse King Richard, Referee (voices) 2016 The Queen of Spain John Scott
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1957The Adventures of Robin HoodHoratioEpisode: "Too Many Earls"1975Churchill's PeopleKing Henry IIEpisode: "A Sprig of Broom"1977The New AvengersMarkEpisode: "Dead Men are Dangerous"1978Play for TodayJohn FennelEpisode: "Licking Hitler" ColumboJoe Devlin Episode: "The Conspirators"CentennialFinlay Perkin3 episodes1982Harts on their ToesZabin 1 episode1983Wizards and WarriorsWizard Vector8 episodes1984George WashingtonLord Loudoun3 episodes1984 Faerie Tale Theatre The Emperor's New ClothesSnorksDr. Galio Seaworthy (voice)65 episodes1985, 1988Murder, She WroteJonathan Hawley, Bert Davies2 episodes1984Alvin and the ChipmunksAdditional voices13 episodesThe New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo ShowAdditional voicesEpisode: "Happy Birthday, Scooby-Doo"Dragon's LairStoryteller (voice)Episode: "Tale of the Enchanted Gift"1984–86The TransformersKickback (voice)5 episodes1986The Twilight ZoneAgentEpisode: "Personal Demons"Magnum PIWalter "Inky" GilbertEpisode: "I Never Wanted To Go to France, Anyway"Pound PuppiesDumas, Lord Belveshire (voice)2 episodes1987Mighty Mouse: The New AdventuresAdditional voices6 episodesDuckTalesShedlock Jones (voice)Episode: "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. McDuck"The Law & Harry McGrawOscar WendellEpisode: "She's Not Wild About Harry"1988Alfred Hitchcock PresentsHectorEpisode: "Twist"1989–90Paddington BearAdditional voices2 episodes1990Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream ZonePotsworth (voice)13 episodesTiny Toon AdventuresWilliam Shakespeare (voice)Episode: "Weirdest Story Ever Told"1991Star Trek: The Next GenerationSir Guy of GisborneEpisode: "Qpid"1991–93The Legend of Prince ValiantThe Mighty Om (voice)3 episodes1992Batman: The Animated SeriesAlfred Pennyworth (voice)3 episodes1993The Little MermaidSorcerer Blowfish (voice)2 episodesThe Sea WolfThomas C. "Cookie" Mugridge1994Babylon 5TrakisEpisode: "Born to the Purple"1995–97Freakazoid!Lyle Spanger, Baffeardin, Hermil Sioro (voices)3 episodes1996Murphy BrownHendricksEpisode: "When a Lansing Loves a Woman"Adventures from the Book of VirtuesKing Midas, Minister (voice)Episode: "Self-Discipline"The Real Adventures of Jonny QuestHunter, Trench Harpooner, Medical Officer (voices)2 episodesLois & Clark: The New Adventures of SupermanSorcererEpisode: "Soul Mates"1997Step by StepProfessor Robert NeslerEpisode: "Talking Trash"Johnny BravoW (voice)Episode: "Bravo, James Bravo"1998Pinky and the BrainKing Claudius (voice)Episode: "Melancholy Brain"Godzilla: The SeriesHustus McPhil (voice)Episode: "DeadLoch"1999Oh Yeah! CartoonsHerb, New Guy, Security Guy (voices)Episode: "Herb"2002Fillmore!Shop Owner (voice)Episode: "The Currency of Doubt"2004All Grown Up!Moderator (voice)Episode: "Susie's Choice"2011–12Secret Mountain Fort AwesomeHelmet Head, Wise One (voices)3 episodes
Video games YearTitleRoleNotes1993Star Wars: X-WingGeneral Dodonna1995The Jungle BookBagheera1996Down in the DumpsBad Punk, Friar Tuck, Prince John1996Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE FighterImperial Officer #2Credited as Clive Revel2001Conquest: Frontier WarsHawkes2003The HobbitThorin Oakenshield2004The Bard's Tale2006Gothic 3RhobarEnglish dubMarvel: Ultimate AllianceDoctor Doom2007Jeanne d'ArcDuke of BedfordEnglish dubPirates of the Caribbean: At World's EndBritish Officers2009Transformers: Revenge of the FallenJetfire2011Star Wars: The Old RepublicAdmiral Davos, Admiral Riserre, Darth Gravus
References
External links
Clive Revill at Theatricalia Clive Revill at Aveleyman.com