Ian McDiambid is the face of the imperator in the Star Wars films. Since the return of the Jedi knights, which came to the cinema in 1983, he embodies Sheev Palpatine. In other words: For most fans of the star saga, it should be difficult to imagine that someone once was completely different under the black hood of the fiesling.
However, a look at the history books reveals that it has been three years before McDiambid two actresses gave who were in front of the camera as an imperator. It is Marjorie Eaton and Elaine Baker at the Empire. In the end, however, only one of them landed in the finished film.
Before Ian McDiambid: Marjorie Eaton and Elaine Baker played the Star Wars villain first
Actually, no one should surprise anyone at this point that a Star Wars villain is brought to life by various people. From actors: inside to body double to one voice that subsequently changes the character of the entire figure: Darth Vader is the best example of this.
Star Wars creator George Lucas also took the time to find the perfect version and in February 1980 turned the first test shots with major Eaton, which was later replaced by Elaine Baker. At least that’s the version that JW Rinzler in The Making of the Empire Strikes Back told.
Rinzler’s making-of books are usually characterized by extensive research, which even make the complex production of a Star Wars film understandable down to the smallest detail. With regard to the occupation of the imperator, however, there is contradictory information, which is why the second version follows here.
Although Baker is listed by Rinzler as the actress that can be seen in the film’s theatrical version, a tweet by Lucasfilm-Executive Pablo Hidalgo from 2016 suggests that the story was overwhelmed: Baker, the woman of make-up- Artist Rick Baker, turned the test shots and Eaton landed in the film.
What complicates the matter: In the finished film, alienated chimpanzee eyes were laid over the face of the actress, who played the imperator while shooting. To find out who it really is, another dive into the depths of the Lucasfilm archive would be necessary to study the original negative.
Who played the imperator first? Star Wars-Expert is only one of one name: inside
So we don’t have a 100 % answer to the question of who played the imperator back to the empire. In the credits of the film, none of the two actresses are mentioned. The only detail in which all sources agree is that the voice of the Clive Revill’s imperator comes.
Anyone who looks today’s fifth episode of the Star Wars saga will not notice anything from all of this. Since the DVD publication of the original trilogy in 2004, the original imperator has been used by a Redeemed scene with Ian McDiArDID replaced, similar to the power spirit of Anakin in the return of the Jedi knights.