The Legendary Star Wars Villain You Forgot Tim Curry Played

Paramount

A legend in the film industry, character actor Tim Curry has sadly died at age 80. This news comes as a genuine gut punch for cinephiles. Even in bad movies, Curry always made them better just by being there and acting. 

Now, sadly, Curry's acting career had already wound down over the last decade plus. In 2012, he suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed and even temporarily unable to talk. But one of his last performances before that was a role that lived up to his titanic status: Palpatine/Darth Sidious in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," i.e. the ultimate "Star Wars" villain.

Curry stepped into the role for the show's fifth and sixth seasons, after Palpatine's original voice actor Ian Abercrombie passed away in 2012. Curry sits in esteemed company among other actors who've performed as Palpatine. That said, anyone who plays the Dark Lord of the Sith is always going to be a mere understudy for Ian McDiarmid, even a legend in his own right like Curry. But Curry's famously deep and sinister yet silky baritone undeniably fit well coming out of Darth Sidious' shadowy hood. I'll admit that I still think about some of Curry's delicious line readings as Palpatine many years later.

Lucasfilm

"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" is set during the prequel trilogy, when Palpatine is not yet Emperor, merely the Galactic Republic Chancellor pulling the strings of the titular war to gradually remake himself into a dictator. He plays the part of a benevolent leader in public, but he unmasks his real self as Darth Sidious in meetings with his minions.

That means Palpatine is two roles in one: the friendly mask and the villain underneath it. You need an actor who can play both "grandfatherly" and "ominous and cackling villain" convincingly. Ian McDiarmid definitely could, as could Ian Abercrombie. With Tim Curry, the performance tilts more towards the Sidious side. He sounds like an evil person hiding something, when the key to Palpatine is that he shouldn't.

Moreover, his fame precedes him. When he talks, you hear Tim Curry first. A few "Clone Wars" Season 5 episodes even include audio from both Abercrombie and Curry as Palpatine (as the former evidently didn't finish recording his lines), and the difference is palpable.

But while Curry's Palpatine may not be the gold standard, his Sidious is still loads of fun. He gets his moment to shine in the final stretch of Season 6, like in "The Lost One," when an infuriated Sidious scolds his apprentice Dooku/Darth Tyranus (Corey Burton), or in "Sacrifice," when Sidious conjures sinister illusions to taunt Yoda (Tom Kane). Palpatine's warning to Dooku (delivered with a force choke) — "This is not the first time you have proven to be clumsy, Lord Tyranus. You know the price of failure" — is one of those unforgettable lines I mentioned.

Tim Curry's tenure as Palpatine was brief, but it should not be forgotten. May he rest in peace.