| Ian McDiarmid | |
|---|---|
McDiarmid at 2007 Celebration Europe. |
|
| Born | 11 August 1944 Carnoustie, Tayside, Scotland |
| Occupation | Actor, theatre director |
| Years active | 1968–present |
Ian McDiarmid ( /məkˈdɜrmɨd/; born 11 August 1944) is a Scottish theatre actor and director, who has also made sporadic appearances on film and television.
McDiarmid has had a successful career in theatre; he has been cast in many plays, while occasionally directing others and although he has appeared mostly in theatrical productions, he has also accepted roles in films and television films. Worldwide, he is most famous for his role as Palpatine in the Star Wars live action film series (both the original and prequel trilogies).
McDiarmid has appeared in 47 films since 1976.
Contents |
McDiarmid was born in Carnoustie. He became a theatre aficionado when he was five years old, when his father took him to see an act by the name of Tommy Morgan in a theatre located in Dundee. In 2004 he stated, "It sort of fascinated me, and it also scared me. All those lights, all that make-up. I said to myself, 'I don't know what this is, but I want it.'"[1] However, fearing his father's disapproval, McDiarmid attended the University of St Andrews, where he received an M.A. in psychology. Soon after, he decided to pursue a career in the theatre instead, and took acting training courses at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. In 1968, McDiarmid received a gold medal for his work. This would later prove to be the first of many recognitions given to him for his work in the theatre. McDiarmid claimed he became its recipient "by doing all the boring jobs you have to do when you are young, to eke out an existence."[2]
McDiarmid is renowned for his work in British theatre, having won plaudits as an actor and director from a wide variety of sources. He has starred in a variety of Shakespearean plays, including Hamlet (1972), The Tempest (1974, 2000), Much Ado About Nothing (1976), Ross and the Porter in Trevor Nunn's 1976 Macbeth (television 1978), The Merchant of Venice (1984), and King Lear (2005). While at the Almeida, he directed plays such as Venice Preserv'd (1986) and Hippolytus (1991).[3]
He also played the part of Ivanov in Tom Stoppard's play Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the Mermaid Theatre in 1978.
In 2002, McDiarmid won Almeida Theatre's Critic's Circle Award for Best Actor for his role as Teddy in a revival of Brian Friel's Faith Healer. Five years later in 2006, he reprised this role in his debut on Broadway.[4] Directed by Kent, he performed alongside Ralph Fiennes and Cherry Jones, and won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.[5] He has appeared most recently in the title role of John Gabriel Borkman, running at the Donmar Theatre in London.
One theatrical performance of note is his portrayal of Harry Hackamore in Sam Shepard's play Seduced. By McDiarmid's own description, Hackamore was a Howard Hughes-type character. To play the part, he was made-up in prosthetics, including a false beard and long fingernails. McDiarmid was only 37 at the time, and this convinced George Lucas and Richard Marquand that he could convincingly play a much older character in extreme cinematic close-up, which helped him land the role of Palpatine.[6]
From 1990 until 2001, McDiarmid and Jonathan Kent served as the artistic directors of the Almeida Theatre, located in Islington, London. In 1998 they shared the Special Evening Standard Award for Theatrical Achievement of the Year.[5] Their tenure was marked by a string of highly successful performances involving actors such as Kevin Spacey and Ralph Fiennes.[7]
Though McDiarmid believes himself to be first and foremost a stage actor, he is happy to work in a film for the right part.[6] After a minor part in the film Dragonslayer, McDiarmid was cast by George Lucas in Return of the Jedi as Emperor Palpatine, the principal villain. Sixteen years after appearing in Return of the Jedi, he reprised the role as a younger Senator and Chancellor in the Star Wars prequel films. He attributes the opportunity to reprise his role to having been much younger than his character the first time he played the part.
The prequels had him play two faces to his character; he re-created his diabolical interpretation of Palpatine from Return of the Jedi when playing Darth Sidious, the Chancellor's Sith alter ego, but created an attractive, pleasant, and seductive character in Palpatine's public persona. While he had previously achieved little recognition for this role, due to the extensive prosthetics used for the character which made him unrecognizable, he received widespread attention and critical acclaim for his expanded role in the prequels.[5]
In the 2004 re-release of The Empire Strikes Back, a brief scene between Darth Vader and a hologram of Emperor Palpatine was updated to have him depicted by McDiarmid. The Emperor was originally voiced by Clive Revill for that scene, and visually portrayed by Elaine Baker, the wife of make-up designer Rick Baker.[8] Chimpanzee eyes were superimposed into darkened eye sockets during post-production "in order to create a truly unsettling image".[9] With this addition to The Empire Strikes Back, McDiarmid has now appeared in every film version in which Palpatine appears.
He has also worked with the Star Wars Expanded Universe as the voice of Palpatine in the video games: Lego Star Wars: The Video Game and its sequel Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, the video game versions of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, and most recently Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron. He also provided the voice through archived audio in the fan film Contract of Evil.
McDiarmid took an early role as Mickey Hamilton, a killer intent on avenging the death of his wife and child in The Professionals for Granada. He played the role of police detective Porfiry Petrovich in the BBC's 2002 TV adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, also starring in an episode of Inspector Morse several years earlier, as psychopathic conman Hugo DeVries. In 2003 McDiarmid took the role of the Stuart statesman Edward Hyde, in the BBC series Charles II: The Power and The Passion.
In 2005, he portrayed the part of Satan in the 41 part BBC Four radio drama based on John Milton's Paradise Lost, which was subsequently re-broadcast on BBC7.[10] Recently, he played the writer and pioneer of policing, Henry Fielding, in the Channel 4 historical drama series City of Vice and Denis Thatcher in 2009's Margaret.
McDiarmid played intelligence chief LeClerc in a 2009 BBC Radio dramatisation of John LeCarre's The Looking Glass War.
He expressed interest in reprising the role of Palpatine for the Star Wars live-action TV series.
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | The Likely Lads | Vicar | |
| 1980 | Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back | Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | Only in post-2005 releases |
| Sir Henry at Rawlinson End | Reg Smeeton | ||
| Richard's Things | Burglar | ||
| The Awakening | Dr. Richter | ||
| 1981 | Dragonslayer | Brother Jacobus | |
| 1983 | Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi | Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | |
| Gorky Park | Prof. Andreev | ||
| 1988 | Dirty Rotten Scoundrels | Arthur | |
| 1995 | Restoration | Ambrose | |
| 1999 | Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace | Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious | |
| Sleepy Hollow | Dr. Thomas Lancaster | ||
| 2002 | Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones | Supreme Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | |
| 2005 | Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith | Supreme Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated – Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Bad Guy |
| 2009 | The Odds | unknown | (Short) |
| Year | TV Series | Role | Number of episodes | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Red Letter Day | Blade | 1 episode | |
| 1978 | Crown Court | Greg Gorgon | 1 episode | |
| 1979 | Macbeth | Ross & the Porter | ||
| The Professionals | Mickey Hamilton | 1 episode | ||
| 1981 | ITV Playhouse | Fedka | 1 episode | |
| 1983 | The Nation's Health | Doctor Vernon Davis | 4 episodes | |
| 1985 | Pity in History | Murgatroyd | ||
| 1988 | The Modern World: Ten Great Writers | Fyodor Dostoyevsky | 1 episode | |
| 1990 | Inspector Morse | Hugo De Vries | 1 episode | |
| 1991 | Chernobyl: The Final Warning | Dr. Vatisenko | ||
| 1993 | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles | Prof. Levi | 1 episode | |
| Heart of Darkness | Doctor | |||
| Selected Exits | unknown | |||
| 1995 | Annie: A Royal Adventure! | Dr. Eli Eon | ||
| 1996 | Karaoke | Oliver Morse | 4 episodes | |
| Cold Lazarus | Oliver Morse | 1 episode | ||
| Hillsborough | Dr. Popper | |||
| 1997 | An Unsuitable Job for a Woman | Ronald Callender | 1 episode | |
| Rebecca | Coroner | |||
| 1999 | Great Expectations | Jaggers | ||
| All the King's Men | Rev. Pierrepoint Edwards | |||
| 2002 | Crime and Punishment | Porfiry Petrovich | ||
| 2003 | Charles II: The Power and The Passion | Sir Edward Hyde | ||
| 2004 | Spooks | Prof. Fred Roberts | 1 episode | |
| 2005 | Our Hidden Lives | B. Charles | ||
| Elizabeth I | Lord Burghley | 2 episodes | Alongside Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons | |
| 2008 | City of Vice | Henry Fielding | 5 episodes | |
| 2009 | Margaret | Dennis Thatcher |
| Year | Video Game | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back | Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | (voice) |
| 1994 | Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi | Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | (voice) |
| 2005 | Lego Star Wars The Video Game | Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | (voice) |
| 2006 | Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy | Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | (voice) |
| 2007 | Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron | Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | (CGI model) |
| 2010 | Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron | Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | (CGI model) |
| Year | Award | Work |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Gold Medal (won) | |
| 1982 | Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a New Play (won) | Insignificance |
| 1985 | Time Out Comedy Awards for Directing (won) | Scenes From An Execution |
| 1990 | Time Out Comedy Awards for Directing (won) | Volpone |
| 1991 | Observer Awards for Outstanding Achievement for Ten Years of Presenting Irish Drama (nominated) | Volpone, The Rehearsal, and Betrayal Field |
| 1995 | Manchester Evening News Award for Best Actor (won) | Hated Nightfall |
| 1998 | Special Evening Standard Award for Theatrical Achievement of the Year (shared with Jonathan Kent) | |
| 2001 | Critics' Circle Theatre Awards for Best Theatre Actor (won) | Faith Healer |
| 2002 | Clarence Derwent Award for Best Supporting Actor (won) | Faith Healer |
| 2004 | Manchester Evening News Award for Best Actor (won) Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Actor (won) |
Henry IV |
| 2005 | Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Actor (won) | King Lear |
| 2006 | Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance (nominated) Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play (nominated) Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance (won) Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play (won) |
Faith Healer |
|
||||||||