Who Was Clive Revill? The Empire Strikes Back Voiceover Artist Dies at 94

Clive Revill has passed away at the age of 94. Read on to learn about his life and career achievements.

Written by Tejas Mundhada , Entertainment Journalist

Updated on Mar 28, 2025 | 07:26 AM GMT | 11.3K

Clive Revill (Getty)

Trigger Warning: This article contains mention of death.

The film industry has lost another legend. Clive Revill, widely acclaimed for his on-screen and stage roles, passed away at the age of 94. The actor died on March 11 at a care facility in Sherman Oaks following a battle with dementia.

The news was confirmed by Revill’s daughter, Kate Revill, to The Hollywood Reporter.

Revill played police officers in two films—Otto Preminger’s Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) and Jack Smight’s Kaleidoscope (1966). Interestingly, his versatility earned him two roles in the same movie, as both a Scotsman and an Arab, in Joseph Losey’s Modesty Blaise.

He also shared the screen with Roddy McDowall in The Legend of Hell House, where he played a physicist investigating eerie occurrences in a haunted mansion.

In 1980, director Irvin Kershner approached Revill to lend his voice to the Emperor in Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back. His voice can be heard during the Emperor's conversation with James Earl Jones’ Darth Vader.

In a 2015 interview, Revill recalled delighting fans with the Emperor’s voice, asking them to close their eyes before saying, “There is a great disturbance in the Force.” He noted that some turned pale, and one even nearly fainted.

However, in the 2004 DVD release of The Empire Strikes Back, his voice was replaced by Ian McDiarmid, who portrayed the Emperor in Return of the Jedi (1983) and subsequent Star Wars films.

Beyond film, Revill was a veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company and performed in seven Broadway plays. He earned Tony nominations for his roles in the musicals Irma La Douce (1961) and Oliver! (1963).