Ian McDiarmid

With versatile and arresting if not beautiful looks, and a palpable presence and grace, the gray-haired actor has proven a consummate character player, and his dozens of credits in supporting roles on stage and in both television and film attest to his proficiency. The makeup used to age him to play a 100-year-old Emperor in "Return of the Jedi" made him quite unrecognizable, but the real McDiarmid could be seen in "The Phantom Menace". Taking …