Ian McDiarmid
Ian McDiarmid (; born 11 August 1944) is a Scottish actor and director of stage and screen, best known for portraying Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars film series. Making his stage debut in Hamlet in 1972, McDiarmid joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1974, and has since starred in a number of Shakespeare's plays. He has received an Olivier Award for Best Actor and a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his stage performances.
You can find people similar to Ian McDiarmid by visiting our lists Scottish male Shakespearean actors and Actors at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.
| Full name at birth | Ian McDiarmid
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| Claim to fame | Supreme Chancellor Palpatine / The Emperor on Star Wars
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| Date of birth | 11 August 1944
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| Place of birth | Carnoustie, Tayside, Scotland
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| Occupation | Actor, theatre director
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PERSONAL DETAILS
| Height | 5' 10" (178 cm)
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ADDITIONAL DETAILS
| Net worth | $10,000,000 USD
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- Appears in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) with Frank Oz, and then in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), which Oz directed. These films were later turned into an NPR radio broadcast and a Broadway musical, respectively. John Lithgow appeared in both.
- Appeared with his drama school classmate Denis Lawson in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) and with Lawson's nephew, Ewan McGregor in "Karaoke" (1996) (mini), Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005).
- Based his Emperor Palpatine character's unusual voice on the Japanese method of using your stomach to project yourself. The result was a strange, guttural croak that Lucas decided was perfect for the character of Palpatine. In an earlier draft of The Empire Strikes Back, the Emperor was described as having a voice that was even deeper and more terrifying than Darth Vader's.
- Is the first actor in the Star Wars films to both physically play a Sith Lord, and provide the voice.
- Appears in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), which is a remake of Bedtime Story, which starred Marlon Brando. He also appears in Heart of Darkness (1994) (TV), which is based on the Joseph Conrad story of the same name, which was previously filmed as Apocalypse Now (1979), also with Brando.
Ian McDiarmid is known for his role in the film Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.
He is also known for his role in the TV mini series Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) as Emperor Palpatine.
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