Clive Revill Explained

Clive Revill
Birth Name:Clive Selsby Revill
Birth Date:18 April 1930
Birth Place:Wellington, New Zealand
Occupation:Аctor
Years Active:1950–2016

Clive Selsby Revill (born 18 April 1930) is a New Zealand actor, best known for his performances in musical theatre and the London stage. A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he has also starred in numerous films and television programmes, often in character parts.[1] He is a two-time Tony Award nominee; Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Irma La Douce and Best Actor in a Musical for Oliver![2] He was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Billy Wilder's Avanti! (1972).

His roles also include voicing the Emperor in the original theatrical edition of The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

Early life

Revill was born on 18 April 1930 in Wellington, the son of Eleanor May (née Neel) and Malet Barford Revill.[3] He attended Rongotai College.[4]

Career

Stage

He 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. He moved to London in 1950 and studied acting there at the Old Vic Theatre.[5] 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.[6] He is also known for his roles in the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan, on both stage and television. He starred in the first national tour of the musical Drood, replacing George Rose, who was murdered during the run.[7]

He also participated in the workshop production of Tom Jones: The Musical, playing the role of Squire Western and reprising it on the cast recording.[8]

Film

His 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).[9]

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.[10]

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, 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.

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 . He starred as the wizard Vector in the short-lived series Wizards and Warriors.

Voice work

Revill is known for his proficiency with accents.[5] He is also known for his voice work in feature-length films and animated series, which includes Alfred Pennyworth in the first three episodes of , 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 1980 version of The Empire Strikes Back (he was later replaced by Ian McDiarmid in the 2004 DVD version though Revill is still credited)[11] numerous cartoons such as The Transformers and DuckTales and more video games, including and .

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1956Reach for the SkyRAF Medical OrderlyUncredited
1958The Horse's MouthArt Student
1959The Headless GhostAmbrose Dudley
1965Bunny Lake Is MissingSgt. Andrews
1966A Fine MadnessDr. Menken
Italian Secret ServiceCharles Harrison
KaleidoscopeInspector McGinnis
Modesty BlaiseMcWhirter, Sheik Abu Tahir
1967FathomSerapkin
The Double ManFrank Wheatly
1968Nobody Runs ForeverJoseph
The Shoes of the FishermanTovarich Vucovich
1969The Assassination BureauCesare Spado
1970The Buttercup ChainGeorge
The Private Life of Sherlock HolmesRogozhin
A Severed HeadAlexander Lynch-Gibbon
1972Avanti!Carlo CarlucciNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
1973The Legend of Hell HouseDr. Barrett
1974The Black WindmillAlf Chestermann
1975One of Our Dinosaurs Is MissingQuon
1976The Great HoudiniDundas Slater
1980The Empire Strikes BackThe Emperor[12] Voice; cameo
1981Zorro, The Gay BladeGarcia
1986KickbackVoice
The Frog PrinceKing William
1987Alice Through the Looking GlassSnark, GoatVoice
1993The Thief and the CobblerKing NodVoice; replaced Anthony Quayle
1995Delta of VenusRadio AnnouncerVoice
2002Return to Never LandElderly Officer, Narrator
2003Additional voices
2004Mickey's Twice Upon a ChristmasNarrator
2012King Richard, Referee
2016The Queen of SpainJohn Scott

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1957The Adventures of Robin HoodHoratioEpisode: "Too Many Earls"
1975Churchill's PeopleKing Henry IIEpisode: "A Sprig of Broom"
1977The New AvengersMarkEpisode: "Dead Men are Dangerous"
1978ColumboJoe Devlin Episode: "The Conspirators"
CentennialFinlay Perkin3 episodes
1983Wizards and WarriorsWizard Vector8 episodes
1984George WashingtonLord Loudoun3 episodes
SnorksDr. Galio SeaworthyVoice, 65 episodes
1985, 1988Murder, She WroteJonathan Hawley, Bert Davies2 episodes
1984Alvin and the ChipmunksAdditional voices13 episodes
The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo ShowAdditional voicesEpisode: "Happy Birthday, Scooby-Doo"
Dragon's LairStorytellerVoice, episode: "Tale of the Enchanted Gift"
1984–1986The TransformersKickbackVoice, 5 episodes
1986The Twilight ZoneAgentEpisode: "Personal Demons"
Magnum PIWalter "Inky" GilbertEpisode: "I Never Wanted To Go to France, Anyway"
Pound PuppiesDumas, Lord BelveshireVoice, 2 episodes
1987Additional voices6 episodes
DuckTalesShedlock JonesVoice, episode: "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. McDuck"
The Law & Harry McGrawOscar WendellEpisode: "She's Not Wild About Harry"
1989–1990Paddington BearAdditional voices2 episodes
1990PotsworthVoice, 13 episodes
Tiny Toon AdventuresWilliam ShakespeareVoice, episode: "Weirdest Story Ever Told"
1991Sir Guy of GisborneEpisode: "Qpid"
1991–1993The Legend of Prince ValiantThe Mighty OmVoice, 3 episodes
1992Alfred PennyworthVoice, 3 episodes
1993The Little MermaidSorcerer BlowfishVoice, 2 episodes
1994Babylon 5TrakisEpisode: "Born to the Purple"
1995Freakazoid!Spanger, Baffeardin, Hermil SioroVoice, 3 episodes
1996Adventures from the Book of VirtuesKing Midas, MinisterVoice, episode: "Self-Discipline"
The Real Adventures of Jonny QuestHunter No. 1, Trench Harpooner, Medical OfficerVoice, 2 episodes
SorcererEpisode: "Soul Mates"
1997Step by StepProfessor Robert NeslerEpisode: "Talking Trash"
Johnny BravoWVoice, episode: "Bravo, James Bravo"
1998Pinky and the BrainKing ClaudiusEpisode: "Melancholy Brain"
Hustus McPhilVoice, episode: "DeadLoch"
1999Oh Yeah! CartoonsHerbVoice, episode: "Herb"
2002Fillmore!Shop Owner1 episode
2004All Grown Up!ModeratorVoice, episode: "Susie's Choice"
2011–2012Secret Mountain Fort AwesomeHelmet Head, Wise OneVoice, 3 episodes

Video games

YearTitleRoleNotes
1993Star Wars: X-WingGeneral Dodonna
1995The Jungle BookBagheera
1996Imperial Officer #2Credited as Clive Revel
2001Hawkes
2003The HobbitThorin Oakenshield
2004The Bard's Tale
2006Gothic 3RhobarEnglish dub
Doctor Doom
2007Jeanne d'ArcDuke of BedfordEnglish dub
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's EndBritish Officers
2009Transformers: Revenge of the FallenJetfire
2011Admiral Davos, Admiral Riserre, Darth Gravus

Other

Stage credits (partial)

YearTitleRoleTheatreNotes
1950Twelfth NightSebastian
1952Mr. PickwickSam WellerPlymouth Theatre
1955Listen to the WindPearsonArts Theatre
1957The TempestTrinculoTheatre Royal, Drury Lane
Toad of Toad HallRatty
1958–1960Irma La DouceBob-Le-HotuLyric Theatre
1960–1961Plymouth TheatreNominated – Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical
1962The MikadoKo-KoSadler's Wells Theatre
1963–1964Oliver!FaginImperial TheatreNominated – Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical
1964Marat/SadeJean-Paul MaratRoyal Shakespeare Company
The Jew of MaltaBarabas
1967Sherry!Sheridan WhitesideAlvin Theatre
1968–1969The Unknown Soldier and His WifeThe GeneralChichester Festival Theatre
The TempestCaliban
1969A Who's Who of FlaplandRoyal Court Theatre
Theatre Upstairs
1971The Incomparable MaxMax BeerbohmRoyale Theatre
1974–1976Sherlock HolmesProfessor James MoriartyBroadhurst TheatreReplacement
1981LolitaClare QuiltyBrooks Atkinson Theatre
1981–1982The Pirates of PenzanceMajor-General StanleyTour
1988DroodWilliam Cartwright, Your Chairman

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Clive Revill. The Official Masterworks Broadway Site. en-US. 2020-01-05.
  2. Web site: Clive Revill. 2020-01-05. Playbill. en.
  3. Book: Who's who in theatre . 1981 . University of California . 572 . 9780810302341 .
  4. Web site: Overview for Clive Revill . TCM.com . 18 April 1930 . 21 December 2016.
  5. News: Clive Revill's voice talent led to a minute as 'Star Wars' first Emperor. Nick. Thomas. newsok.com. The Oklahoman. 4 December 2015. 28 June 2018.
  6. Web site: Clive Revill Tony Awards Info . BroadwayWorld.com . 21 December 2016.
  7. Web site: A little more than luck colors Clive Revill's career . The Baltimore Sun. 13 November 1991 . 21 December 2016.
  8. Web site: Various – Tom Jones: Original Musical Cast Recording (Vinyl, LP) . discogs . 21 December 2016.
  9. Web site: The Legend of Hell House (1973). 15 June 1973. IMDb. 28 June 2018.
  10. Web site: Clive Revill . MasterworksBroadway.com . 21 December 2016.
  11. Web site: Digital Bits. Star Wars Trilogy – 2004 DVD Changes. 16 February 2007.
  12. Web site: Clive Revill (visual voices guide) . Behind The Voice Actors . 13 December 2022.