A grand, well-respected actor of stage, film and TV, most people think New Zealander Clive Revill is British. And although most people think of him as a comic eccentric best known for his sterling work on the musical stage, he was regarded for years as a formidable Shakespearean dramatic player. A man of many skills, Revill was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and educated at Rongotai College and Victoria University (Wellington). Once trained for a career as an accountant, he abruptly switched gears and made his stage debut in Auckland, New Zealand playing Sebastian in "Twelfth Night" in 1950. He then moved to England to study with the Old Vic School in London. He appeared at Stratford-on-Avon in mid-1950s presentations of "Hamlet," "Love's Labour's Lost," "The Merchant of Venice," "Julius Caesar" and "The Tempest," among others.

Having made his Broadway debut back in 1952 with "Mr. Pickwick," he took a juicy chunk out of the Big Apple when he returned to New York in the 1960s with his critically lauded, Tony Award-nominated work in "Irma La Douce" and as Fagin in "Oliver!". He has delighted audiences for years with his larger-than-life roles, particularly in the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas "The Mikado" and "The Pirates of Penzance." Other musicals included "Sherry," "Lolita" and "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," replacing George Rose in the last mentioned after the actor's untimely death in 1988. Most adept at humorous ethnic roles (he has played everything from Chinese to Russian), he is simply legendary for his acute sense of comic timing and uncanny use of body language.

Revill has reveled over the years playing delightfully hissable gents who are often stuffy, pompous and ruthless to the hilt. Making an inauspicious debut in an unbilled role in 1956, his more pronounced movie work includes Kaleidoscope (1966), The Assassination Bureau (1969), The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), Avanti! (1972), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination, The Legend of Hell House (1973), Mack the Knife (1990) and Robin Hood, Men in Tights (1993). Divorced from Valerie Nelson, Revill has one daughter and makes his home in Los Angeles.
Is the one of only four actors to appear in both a 'Star Trek' series and a 'Star Wars' film, along with Jason Wingreen, Phil Fondacaro, and Felix Silla. He supplied the voice of the Emperor in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back and played Sir Guy of Gisborne in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Qpid". Has the distinction of being the last murderer Columbo investigates in the final episode of the first run of the Columbo series in 1978. He replaced George Sanders at the very last minute in the 1967 musical "Sherry" on Broadway which was a musical version of "The Man Who Came to Dinner." The show was a flop. 24 years after its release, his performance as Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back was deleted and replaced by the face and voice of Ian McDiarmid, who has played the role in all the subsequent episodes. Has appeared in three different, completely unrelated productions about Robin Hood: The Adventures of Robin Hood, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Qpid" and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Was twice nominated for Broadway's Tony Awards: in 1961, as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Musical) for "Irma La Douce," and in 1963, as Best Actor (Musical) for "Oliver!".