Clive Revill

A grand, well-respected character lead and support of stage, film and television, most people mistakenly think New Zealander Clive Revill is British. A delightfully comic eccentric praised for his sterling work on the musical stage, the blue-eyed, curly, red-haired gent is also highly regarded for his formidable dramatic work in Shakespearean roles. Clive Selsby Revill was born on April 18, 1930, 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.

While there 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.

Has appeared in three different, completely unrelated productions about Robin Hood: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955), the Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) episode, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Qpid (1991), and Robin Hood: Men In Tights (1993).

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) (a rare lead), Mack the Knife (1989), Robin Hood: Men In Tights (1993) and Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995). Quite proficient at ethnic roles (playing everything from Chinese to Russian), Clive's acute sense of comic timing and uncanny use of body language is parallel to none, often engaging audiences as delightfully pompous, even "hissable" gents.

Pickwick", the man of many skills took a juicy chunk out of the Big Apple upon returning 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 amused audiences for years with his larger-than-life musical roles, particularly in such Gilbert and Sullivan operettas as "The Mikado" and "The Pirates of Penzance".

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!".

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.

Has the distinction of being the last murderer Lt. Columbo investigates in the final episode of the original Columbo (1971) series in 1978.

Before marrying Clive in 1978, Suzi was wed to Jesse Wayne, renowned stuntman who was one of the founders of the Stuntman's Association, from 1974 to 1976. Suzi began her career in Chicago as a ballet dancer and also sang in one-woman shows in Los Angeles before going into producing.

One of only five actors to appear in both a Star Trek series and a Star Wars film, along with Jason Wingreen, Phil Fondacaro, Felix Silla and more recently Simon Pegg. He supplied the voice of Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and played Sir Guy of Gisborne in the Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) episode "Qpid".

Others have included "Sherry", "Lolita" and "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" -- replacing the late George Rose in the last mentioned after that actor's untimely death in 1988.

From the 1990's Into the millennium, Clive has pretty much settled in the States. His distinctive voice has been greatly utilized in animated features and video games (Dr.

His daughter, Kate Selsby, by Suzi Schor-Revill, a USC graduate, is a third year resident (as of 2009) in medical school. She is also a champion horsewoman and jumper.