Ian McDiarmid: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 19:29, 22 March 2015
Ian McDiarmid | |
---|---|
![]() McDiarmid at 2007 Celebration Europe. | |
Born | Carnoustie, Scotland | 11 August 1944
Occupation(s) | Actor, theatre director |
Years active | 1968–present |
Ian McDiarmid (/məkˈdɜːrm[invalid input: 'ɨ']d/; born 11 August 1944) is a Scottish actor and director. He has appeared in 47 films since 1976. Internationally, he is most famous for his role as Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars film series.
Early life
McDiarmid was born in Carnoustie, Scotland. He became a theatre aficionado when he was five years old, when his father took him to see an act named Tommy Morgan at a theatre 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, 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]
Theatre
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 Shakespeare 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). From April to June 2012, he played the title role in Timon of Athens at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.[3] He played Ivanov in Tom Stoppard's play Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the Mermaid Theatre in 1978.
From 1990, McDiarmid and Jonathan Kent served as the artistic directors of the Almeida Theatre in Islington, London, gaining the commitment of prominent actresses such as Glenda Jackson and Claire Bloom for their productions.[4] The two men resigned in 2001 with the venue in good shape.[5] In 1998, they shared the Special Evening Standard Award for Theatrical Achievement of the Year.[6] Their tenure was marked by a string of highly successful performances involving actors such as Kevin Spacey and Ralph Fiennes.[7] While connected with the Almeida, McDiarmid directed plays such as Venice Preserv'd (1986) and Hippolytus (1991). 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.[8] 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.[6]
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.[9]
Star Wars
After a minor part in the film Dragonslayer, McDiarmid was cast by George Lucas in Return of the Jedi as Emperor Sheev Palpatine, the principal villain. Sixteen years after appearing in Return of the Jedi, he reprised the role as the character's younger incarnation of Senator Palpatine and Sith Lord Darth Sidious in the prequel films: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith .
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.[6]
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 include 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.[10] 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 of The 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. McDiarmid made a small appearance during Celebration Europe, and on August 23–26, 2012, he attended Celebration VI in Orlando, Florida and had his own show titled The Phantom Menace: Ian McDiarmid, hosted by James Arnold Taylor, in which he talked about his experience working on Star Wars and how he landed the role of Palpatine. Ian McDiarmid also voiced a pig version of Palpatine for a promo video on for Angry Birds Star Wars II, entitled "Join the Pork Side".[11]
Television and radio
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. In 1990, he starred in the "Masonic Mysteries" episode of Inspector Morse as the psychopathic conman Hugo DeVries. He played the role of police detective Porfiry Petrovich in the BBC's 2002 adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. 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.[12] 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 dramatization of John le Carré's The Looking Glass War.
In 2014, he played a leading role as British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey in the BBC television drama 37 Days, which is about the diplomatic crisis preceding the First World War. He also had a recurring role on series 2 of Utopia playing the role of Anton.
Work in theatre
Stage appearances
- Hamlet, Open Space Theatre, London, 1972
- And They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers, Open Space Theatre, London, 1973
- In the Jungle of Cities, Place Theatre, London, 1973
- Macbeth, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, England, 1973, then Bankside Globe Theatre, London, 1973
- Measure for Measure, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-on-Avon, England, 1974
- Macbeth, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, London, 1975
- Macbeth, Royal Shakespeare Company, Other Place Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon, England, 1976
- Destiny, Royal Shakespeare Company, Other Place Theatre, 1976
- Dingo, Royal Shakespeare Company, Other Place Theatre, 1976
- Schweyk in the Second World War, Royal Shakespeare Company, Other Place Theatre, 1976, then Warehouse Theatre, London, 1977
- Much Ado About Nothing, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon, 1976, then Aldwych Theatre, 1977
- That Good Between Us, Royal Shakespeare Company, Warehouse Theatre, 1977
- Macbeth, Royal Shakespeare Company, Warehouse Theatre, 1977
- The Days of the Commune, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1977
- Dingo, Royal Shakespeare Company, Warehouse Theatre, 1978
- Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Mermaid Theatre, London, 1978
- Mephisto adapted by Gordon McDougall from the book by Klaus Mann, Oxford Playhouse Company, The Roundhouse Theatre, London, 1981[13]
- The Worlds, New Half Moon Theatre, London, 1981
- Ezra, New Half Moon Theatre, 1981
- Insignificance, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1982
- Tales from Hollywood, National Theatre, 1983
- The Merchant of Venice, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit (Barbican Centre), 1984
- The Party, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit (Barbican Centre), London, 1985
- Henry V, Royal Shakespeare Company, Barbican Theatre, London, 1985
- The War Plays, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit (Barbican Centre), 1985
- Crimes in Hot Countries, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit (Barbican Centre), 1985
- The Castle, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit (Barbican Centre), 1985
- Downchild, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit (Barbican Centre), 1985
- Edward II, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, England, 1986
- The Saxon Shore, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1986
- Creditors, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1986
- The Danton Affair, Royal Shakespeare Company, Barbican Theatre, 1986
- Don Carlos, Royal Exchange Theatre, 1987
- The Black Prince, Aldwych Theatre, 1989
- Volpone, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1990
- The Rehearsal, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1990
- Lulu, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1991
- Hippolytus, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1991
- The School for Wives, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1993
- Hated Nightfall, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, England, 1995
- Tartuffe, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1996
- The Government Inspector, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1997
- The Doctor's Dilemma, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1998
- The Jew of Malta, Almeida Theatre, 1999
- The Tempest, Almeida Theatre, 2000–01
- Faith Healer, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 2001
- Faith Healer, Gate Theatre in Dublin, 2001–2002
- The Embalmer, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 2002
- Henry IV, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, England, 2004
- Lear, Sheffield Crucible, 2005
- Faith Healer, Booth Theatre, 2006
- John Gabriel Borkman, Donmar Warehouse, 2007
- Jonah and Otto, Manchester Royal Exchange, 2008
- Be Near Me, National Theatre of Scotland and Donmar Warehouse, 2009
- Six Characters in Search of an Author, Headlong Theatre, 2008–2010
- The Prince of Homburg, Donmar Warehouse, 2010
- Emperor and Galilean, National Theatre, 2011
- The Faith Machine, Royal Court Theatre, 2011
- Timon of Athens, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, 2012
- Life of Galileo, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford, 2013
- Merchant of Venice, Almeida, London, 2014
Stage director
- Venice Preserv'd, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1986
- Dom Juan, Royal Exchange Theatre, 1988
- The Possibilities, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1988
- Scenes from an Execution, Almeida Theatre, 1990
- The Rehearsal, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1990
- Volpone, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1990
- Lulu, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1991
- Hippolytus, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1991
- A Hard Heart, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1992
- Venice Preserv'd, Almeida Theatre Company, Almeida Theatre, 1995
Filmography
Theatrical film
Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
---|---|---|---|
1976 | The Likely Lads | Vicar | |
1980 | Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back | Emperor Palpatine | Only in post-2004 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 | |
Gorky Park | Prof. Andreev | ||
1988 | Dirty Rotten Scoundrels | Arthur | |
1995 | Restoration | Ambrose | |
1999 | Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace | Senator Palptine/Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | |
Sleepy Hollow | Dr. Thomas Lancaster | ||
2002 | Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones | Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | |
2005 | Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith | Chancellor Palptine/Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated – Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Bad Guy |
Star Wars: A Musical Journey | Himself/Chancellor Palptine/Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | Video | |
It's All for Real: The Stunts of Episode III | Himself/Chancellor Palptine/Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | Video Short | |
'Star Wars': Feel the Force | Himself/Chancellor Palptine/Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | TV movie Documentary | |
2009 | The Odds | unknown | (Short) |
Television
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 | TV movie | |
The Professionals | Mickey Hamilton | 1 episode | "The Madness of Mickey Hamilton" | |
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 | "Masonic Mysteries" |
1991 | Chernobyl: The Final Warning | Dr. Vatisenko | ||
1993 | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles | Professor Levi | 1 episode | "Paris, October 1916" (Later edited into Chapter 9: Demons of Deception) |
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 | TV movie | |
2003 | The Making of 'Charles II' | Himself / Sir Edward Hyde | TV movie Documentary | |
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 | Denis Thatcher | ||
2013 | Words with Warwick | Himself / Senator Palptine /Chancellor Palptine/Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious | 1 episode | "Ian McDiarmid" |
2014 | 37 Days | Sir Edward Grey | ||
2014 | Utopia | Anton/Phillip Carvel | 5 episodes | #2.2-#2.6 |
Video games
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 | Senator Palptine/Chancellor Palptine /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) |
2013 | Angry Birds Star Wars II | Emperor Piglatine/Darth Swindle | (voice) |
Awards and nominations
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 Award 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 |
References
- ^ Simon Hattenstone (17 December 2001). "Force for change". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2006.
- ^ Star Wars Actors Database at Nerf-Herders-Anonymous.net. Retrieved 23 August 2006.
- ^ "Timon of Athens", Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
- ^ Matt Wolf "Theater; A New London Theater Team Is Attracting Stars", New York Times, 11 March 1990
- ^ Michael Billington "'Our time had come'", The Guardian, 5 September 2001
- ^ a b c Ian McDiarmid at Hollywood.com. Retrieved 23 October 2006.
- ^ Fiachra Gibbons (5 September 2001). "Celebrated double act quits Almeida theatre". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2006.
- ^ Simi Horwitz (5 September 2001). "The Emperor's New Role". BackStage. Retrieved 24 October 2006. [dead link]
- ^ Ian McDiarmid at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
- ^ "Yoda was originally played by a monkey in a mask, and other secrets of The Empire Strikes Back". io9. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
- ^ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151964584639928&set=a.428114379927.205212.314467614927&type=1&theater
- ^ Ed Pettit (23 November 2006). "Of Man's first disobedience". Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
- ^ "Round House and Open Space, theatre companies: Catalogue of records in the Victoria and Albert Museum: Theatre Collections", Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Ian McDiarmid at the Internet Broadway Database
- Ian McDiarmid at IMDb
- Ian McDiarmid at the TCM Movie Database
- Ian McDiarmid at AllMovie
- Ian McDiarmid at Broadway.com
- Star Wars Actors Database at Nerf-Herders-Anonymous.net
- Bio from the official Star Wars site
- Bio from Hollywood.com
- B.Charles in Our Hidden Lives film-page
- Use dmy dates from August 2012
- Ill-formatted IPAc-en transclusions
- 1944 births
- Alumni of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
- Alumni of the University of St Andrews
- Laurence Olivier Award winners
- Living people
- Royal Shakespeare Company members
- Scottish male film actors
- Scottish male stage actors
- Scottish male television actors
- People from Carnoustie
- Tony Award winners
- 21st-century Scottish male actors
- 20th-century Scottish male actors
- Scottish theatre directors