Though primarily a stage actor, Shaw appeared in some forty film and TV productions from 1930 to 1991. Born in Norfolk, England in 1905 he first appeared on stage as a child in 1913, graduating to lead roles by the late 1920s. It was in 1930 that he made his first film appearance in Caste. His most notable film roles of this period were as an aspiring actor opposite Miriam Hopkins and Rex Harrison in the Alexander Korda produced Men Are Not Gods; as a crime suspect in another Korda production, Murder on Diamond Row and a role opposite Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson in Michael Powell's U-Boat 29. His later films included a role in Roy Boulting's documentary-style Journey Together; The Glass Mountain and as a Scottish MP in Scotch on the Rocks.

In the 1960s he appeared in Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo 's imaginative It Happened Here, made in semi-documentary style showing Britons coping during a Nazi persecution. Mostly stage and TV work followed (including an appearance as a judge in TV's Rumpole of the Bailey in 1979). In 1982 Shaw was approached by George Lucas to make an appearance in the final episode of his Star Wars trilogy Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi. The role was the small but crucial one at the films climax of the unmasked Darth Vader and later as the disembodied spirit of Anakin Skywalker. The role has since made him a cult figure all over the world. The rest of Shaw's career was largely spent playing distinguished elderly gent roles such as the art critic Mr. Sharpe in High Season. Shaw continued to act on stage, film and TV well into his eighties. He passed away, aged 89, in December 1994.


Was the author of the 1969 play 'The Cliff Walk' and the 1975 novel 'The Christening'. The eight year old Shaw made his first stage appearance on January 1 1914, as one of the 'Juvenile Band', in 'The Cockyolly Bird'. In a 1987 interview, he revealed that, while under consideration for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), he was not informed about the role of "Anakin Skywalker" until the producers were certain that he would be playing the character. Because the role was being kept a secret during production of the movie, he was under contract not to disclose it to anyone. He honored that deal, and after the film's release, he was finally permitted to talk about his role. Step-father of John Peel. Had worked on stage, and was very good friends with fellow Star Wars cast member Ian McDiarmid. He was also very unfamiliar with Star Wars when he was cast, and was not aware that his friend McDiarmid had been cast. When they ran into each other while doing their respective make-up tests, McDiarmid asked what he was doing there, to which Shaw replied, "I don't know, Ian. I think it's something to do with science fiction.".