Clive Selsby Revill is a New Zealand singer, character actor, and voice artist best known for his performances in musical theatre and on the London 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. 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 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 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. 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.
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, Modesty Blaise, The Double Man, Fathom, The Assassination Bureau, A Severed Head, The Black Windmill and One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing. He also had notable supporting turns in Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake Is Missing opposite Laurence Olivier, and his American film debut A Fine Madness, as well as a rare leading role in the horror filmThe Legend of Hell House. He was often cast as humorous foreign characters. Two of his highest profile roles of this kind were in two films for Billy Wilder: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and Avanti!, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his part as put-upon hotel manager Carlo Carlucci.
Television
In the 1978 television miniseries Centennial, he played the Scottish accountant Finlay Perkin. He played both Ko-Ko 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, Hart to Hart, Dynasty, Magnum, P.I., The Love Boat, 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. 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 voice of Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious in the original 1980 version of The Empire Strikes Back numerous cartoons such as The Transformers, ' and DuckTales and more video games, including ' and '.
