Clive Revill

A grand, well-respected character lead and support of stage, film and television, most people mistakenly think New Zealander 'Clive Revill' (qv) 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. 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". Others have included "Sherry", "Lolita" and "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" -- replacing the late 'George Rose' (qv) in the last mentioned after that actor's untimely death in 1988.Making an inauspicious debut in an unbilled role in 1956, his more pronounced movie work includes _Kaleidoscope (1966)_ (qv), _The Assassination Bureau (1969)_ (qv), _The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)_ (qv), _Avanti! (1972)_ (qv), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination, _The Legend of Hell House (1973)_ (qv) (a rare lead), _Mack the Knife (1989)_ (qv), _Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)_ (qv) and _Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)_ (qv). 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.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. Doom, Darth Gravus, Jetfire), plus a few films including _Intrepid (2000)_ (qv), _Crime and Punishment (2002)_ (qv), _Gentlemen Broncos (2009)_ (qv) and _The Queen of Spain (2016)_ (qv). Twice divorced, Revill has one daughter, 'Kate Selsby' (qv) (aka 'Kate Selsby' (qv) Revill), by his second marriage to Suzi Schor-Revill. He makes his home in Los Angeles.::Gary Brumburgh / [email protected]