Ian McDiarmid

Ian McDiarmid (born 11 August 1944) is a Scottish actor and director of stage and screen. 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 for Insignificance (1982) and a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Faith Healer (2006).
He gained prominence for portraying Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious in the Star Wars franchise starting from Return of the Jedi (1983). He also acted in Gorky Park (1983), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), Restoration (1995), Sleepy Hollow (1999), and The Lost City of Z (2016).
Early life
McDiarmid was born in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland, on 11 August 1944. 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.'"
However, fearing his father's disapproval, McDiarmid attended Queen's College, Dundee (now the University of Dundee, but then a constituent part of the University of St Andrews), where he received a Master of Arts 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 from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, 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."
Career
Theatre
McDiarmid has worked as an actor and director in British theatre. He has starred in several Shakespeare plays, including Hamlet (1972), The Tempest (1974, 2000), Much Ado About Nothing (1976), Trevor Nunn's 1976 Macbeth (television 1978), The Merchant of Venice (1984), and King Lear (2005). 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. The two men resigned in 2001 with the venue in good shape. Their tenure was marked by a string of highly successful performances involving actors such as Kevin Spacey and Ralph Fiennes. 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. 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. From April to June 2012, he played the title role in Timon of Athens at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
He portrayed Harry Hackamore in Sam Shepard's play Seduced. McDiarmid described Hackamore as 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.
Star Wars
After a minor part in the film Dragonslayer (1981), McDiarmid was cast by George Lucas in Return of the Jedi (1983) as the Emperor, the film's villain. CNN named McDiarmid fourth in their top 10 British villains, stating it was his "darkly seductive voice" that "stole the show", and it was a "masterclass in ruling through fear and manipulation." Sixteen years after Return of the Jedi, he reprised the role as the character's younger incarnation of Senator (and later Chancellor) 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 the Emperor from Return of the Jedi when playing Darth Sidious, the Chancellor's Sith alter ego, but created a pleasant, charming character in Sidious' public persona. McDiarmid returned to the role of Palpatine on screen for the first time since Revenge of the Sith in the 2019 film The Rise of Skywalker, the third film in the sequel trilogy, and the ninth and final episode in the Skywalker saga.
In the 2004 re-release of The Empire Strikes Back, a brief scene between Darth Vader and a hologram of Darth Sidious was updated to include McDiarmid. The Emperor was originally voiced by Clive Revill for that scene, and visually portrayed by Marjorie Eaton. With this addition to The Empire Strikes Back, McDiarmid has now appeared in every live-action film version in which Sidious appears.
He has also worked with the Star Wars expanded universe as the voice of Darth Sidious in the video game adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi: Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. McDiarmid made a small appearance during Celebration Europe. From 23 to 26 August 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 Sidious. McDiarmid also voiced a pig version of Sidious for a promo video on Angry Birds Star Wars II, entitled "Join the Pork Side". McDiarmid appeared as Darth Sidious in the 2022 TV series Obi-Wan Kenobi, using new scenes and archive material from the prequel trilogy. He also voiced Palpatine/Darth Sidious in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
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 (Season 2, Episode 13) for London Weekend Television. In 1990, he starred in the Central Independent Television series Inspector Morses episode "Masonic Mysteries" as the psychopathic con man Hugo DeVries. In 1997, McDiarmid played the villain, Ronald Hinks, in the Touching Evil two-part episode "Through the Clouds/The Lost Boys". 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 Satan in the 41-part BBC Radio 4 drama based on John Milton's Paradise Lost, which was subsequently re-broadcast on BBC 7. 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. In September 2016, McDiarmid starred in the audio podcast drama series Akiha Den Den. He played Cuttings, a ham radio buff who picks up a mysterious voice (Joy McAvoy) coming from an abandoned amusement park and Prospero in a BBC Radio 3 "new, environmentally-inflected production of The Tempest to coincide with COP26 in Glasgow", 7 Nov. 2021.
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
Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen, Oxford Playhouse, 1980
Mephisto, adapted by Gordon McDougall from the book by Klaus Mann, Oxford Playhouse Company, The Roundhouse Theatre, London, 1981
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 Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen, the Royal Exchange, Manchester, 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 (Chorus)
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
The King Goes Forth to France, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, 1987 (Froissart)
Don Carlos, Royal Exchange Theatre, 1987 (King Philip)
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
What Shadows, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Birmingham, 2016
The Lemon Table, Salisbury Playhouse, Wiltshire Creative, Sheffield Crucible, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, HOME Manchester, Malvern Theatres, 2021
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
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Bio from the official Star Wars site
1944 births
Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Alumni of the University of Dundee
Laurence Olivier Award winners
Living people
Royal Shakespeare Company members
Scottish male film actors
Scottish male stage actors
Scottish male television actors
Scottish male voice actors
People from Carnoustie
Theatre World Award winners
Tony Award winners
21st-century Scottish male actors
20th-century Scottish male actors
Scottish theatre directors
Scottish male Shakespearean actors
Male actors from Dundee
Scottish atheists