Star Wars actor Michael Culver dead at 85: Fans heap praise on 'unforgettable' talent as Empire Strikes Back and A Passage To India star passes away

British actor Michael Culver, famed for his cameo role in iconic science fiction epic The Empire Strikes Back, has passed away aged 85. 

Culver's passing was announced by his agent on Wednesday and comes after the actor suffered a long battle with poor health. His cause of death has not been disclosed. 

Confirming the actor's passing in a statement, they said: 'We are very sad to confirm the passing of our friend and client Michael Culver.

'A career spanning over 50 years with notable roles in Sherlock Holmes, A Passage to India, Secret Army and of course one of the most memorable death scenes in the Star Wars franchise.

'Michael largely gave up acting in the early 2000's to concentrate his efforts into his political activism.

British actor Michael Culver, famed for his cameo role in iconic science fiction epic The Empire Strikes Back (pictured, right), has passed away aged 85

Culver's passing was announced by his agent on Wednesday and comes after the actor suffered a long battle with poor health

It's been an honor to have represented Michael for for the last decade and to have taken him to some of the best Star Wars events in the UK and Europe. 

'A real highlight was taking Michael to Celebration in Chicago in 2019. He was lost for words when he saw his queue line with nearly 200 people waiting to see him.

'We worked with Michael just 3 weeks ago at his last home signing with our friends at Elite Signatures.

'Michael died on Tuesday 27th February at the age of 85. We miss him.' 

Born in Hampstead to West End actor Roland Culver and his wife Daphne Rye, Culver began his career onstage with Dundee Repertory Theatre, where he appeared in 35 plays across a two year period - among them productions of classic plays by Oscar Wilde, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, JB Priestley and Noël Coward.

He would later branch into classical Shakespeare at The Old Vic, starring in King Lear, Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tragedy of Hamlet and King Henry VI.

Culver's West End productions included The Master Builder by Henrik Ibsen, a play he would later return to at Kilburn's Tricycle Theatre - since renamed the Kiln. 

His first, uncredited film role came in 1963 with a fleeting appearance in James Bond classic From Russia With Love. He would return to the spy franchise two years later, playing a Vulcan bomber crewman in Thunderball. 

Culver began his career in theatre before branching into TV and film in the early 1960s. Here he is seen in a 1965 episode of Court Martial 

His most enduring role would come in 1980, with a part in the Irvin Kershner directed Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back, in which he played the doomed Imperial Captain Lorth Needa

That same year Culver featured in iconic TV series Hammer House Of Horror, starring in stand alone episode Charlie Boy (pictured)

Culver also featured in David Lean's historical 1982 epic A Passage To India, in which he starred alongside Peggy Ashcroft, James Fox and Sir Alec Guinness as Major McBryde (pictured) 

In 1986 he starred alongside the late Jeremy Brett in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, playing Sir Reginald Musgrave (pictured) 

Culver played Major Erwin Brandt in TV series Secret Army from 1977 to 1978 (pictured in 1977)

But his most enduring big screen role would come in 1980, with a part in the Irvin Kershner directed Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back. 

The actor featured among a sprawling cast-list as Captain Lorth Needa, a veteran fleet officer responsible for commanding the Avenger - an Imperial Star Destroyer within Darth Vader's vast squadron. 

Needa ultimately faces Vadar's wrath, and a premature end, with the Dark Lord using the Force to telekinetically strangle him to death. 

Paying tribute to the actor on X, formerly Twitter, the Star Wars Underworld fan account posted:  'Culver was best know to Star Wars fans for portraying Captain Lorth Needa in The Empire Strikes Back.

'He also had a variety of roles across many stage, screen and radio productions.' 

A mustachioed Culver in a scene from popular 1973 crime drama New Scotland Yard 

Tributes flooded in after Culver's death was confirmed, among them messages from the Star Wars Underworld Facebook account and the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes Podcast 

Culver's TV work also included a role in Cadfael (pictured), a popular TV adaptation of the paperback murder mysteries by author Edith Pargeter

Culver also featured in David Lean's historical 1982 epic A Passage To India, in which he starred alongside Peggy Ashcroft, James Fox and Sir Alec Guinness as Major McBryde. 

His extensive list of TV credits included roles in The Professionals, Black Beauty, Minder, Cadfael, Hammer House Of Horror and a memorable role in The Return Of Sherlock Holmes, playing Sir Reginald Musgrave alongside the late Jeremy Brett's titular sleuth. 

Sharing a Facebook post on Wednesday, the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes Podcast wrote: 'Dear Michael Culver, our beloved Reginald Musgrave, has sadly passed away. 

'As you all know The Musgrave Ritual is one of our very favourite episodes, for a multiple of reasons, one being the performance of Mr. Culver. Michael had been ill for some time, but this did not stop this strong, principled man from continuing to live and work and speak out for the causes he had so strongly fought for throughout his life. 

In 1988 he starred as Dicky Cruyer in Game Set and Match (pictured), a twelve-part series based on Len Deighton's trilogy of spy novels 

Culver's versatility as an actor was evident in a 1980 dramatization of classic tale Dick Turpin (pictured)  

The dashing actor played Captain Harville in a 1970 TV adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion (pictured)

He went from period drama to futuristic thriller with a role in 1975 series Space: 1999 (pictured) 

'Michael was not just an extraordinary actor, but was an extraordinary man. This one hurts even more as we were lucky a year or so ago to speak to him about his time on the show, and what a gentleman he was to all of us.'

They added: 'Though his light shines a little dimmer than it did, it shall never go out for his work and legacy lives on in shows such as the one we adore, and in the causes he so passionately fought for and the lives he changed and made better. 

'We thank Michael for all that he has given us, and our thoughts are with his family and all that knew him at this time. God speed Michael.'