Sebastian Shaw(1905-1994)
- Actor
- Writer
Though primarily a stage actor, Sebastian Shaw appeared in some forty
film and television productions from 1930 to 1991. Born in Holt, Norfolk, England, he first appeared on stage as a child in
1913, graduating to lead roles by the late 1920s. It was in 1930 that
he made his first film appearance in
Caste (1930). His most notable film roles
of this period were as an aspiring actor opposite
Miriam Hopkins and
Rex Harrison in the
Alexander Korda-produced
Men Are Not Gods (1936); as a
crime suspect in another Korda production,
Murder on Diamond Row (1937); and opposite Conrad Veidt and
Valerie Hobson in
Michael Powell's
U-Boat 29 (1939). His
later films included Roy Boulting's documentary-style
Journey Together (1945),
The Glass Mountain (1949) (in which he played an eccentric Scottish lyricist), and
Scotch on the Rocks (1953).
In the 1960s, he appeared in Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo's imaginative It Happened Here (1964), made in semi-documentary style showing Britons coping during a Nazi persecution. Mostly stage and television work followed (including an appearance as a judge in Rumpole of the Bailey (1978)). In 1982, Shaw was approached by George Lucas to make an appearance in the final episode of his Star Wars films, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). The role was the small but crucial one at the film's climax of the unmasked Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) and in the final scene as Anakin's ghost. The role has since made him a cult figure all over the world. Much of Shaw's remaining career was spent playing distinguished elderly gent roles, such as cold war spy-cum-art critic Basil Sharpe in High Season (1987). Shaw continued to act on stage, film and television well into his eighties. Sebastian Shaw died at age 89 of natural causes on December 23, 1994.
In the 1960s, he appeared in Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo's imaginative It Happened Here (1964), made in semi-documentary style showing Britons coping during a Nazi persecution. Mostly stage and television work followed (including an appearance as a judge in Rumpole of the Bailey (1978)). In 1982, Shaw was approached by George Lucas to make an appearance in the final episode of his Star Wars films, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). The role was the small but crucial one at the film's climax of the unmasked Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) and in the final scene as Anakin's ghost. The role has since made him a cult figure all over the world. Much of Shaw's remaining career was spent playing distinguished elderly gent roles, such as cold war spy-cum-art critic Basil Sharpe in High Season (1987). Shaw continued to act on stage, film and television well into his eighties. Sebastian Shaw died at age 89 of natural causes on December 23, 1994.
