Scottish character actor Michael Sheard had an incredibly prolific career and had roles in numerous television shows, per his IMDb. Though perhaps best known for playing villains, like the Imperial Officer Admiral Ozzel in “Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” as Adolf Hitler (a role he played four other times, according to the BBC), he also secured bit parts and small character arcs on many series throughout his decades-spanning career. Notably, he appeared six times in “Doctor Who,” playing multiple characters alongside five different Doctors.
He was more than just an actor, though. Sheard also wrote a series of autobiographies throughout his life, chronicling the details of what it meant to work as an actor. He wanted to name his second book “Yes, Admiral Ozzel,” but after writing to George Lucas for permission to use the name, Sheard received a letter from “one of his underlings” who deemed his request inappropriate, per Television Heaven. The letter essentially told him he could mention he was in the film, but he shouldn’t make that fact the focus of his book. “I wrote back to this guy, and I said, ‘Look, I was only on the film for a month, so how on earth could I fill a whole book about Star Wars?'” Sheard quipped. He eventually named the book “Yes, Admiral.”
The actor died on August 31, 2005, from cancer-related complications, The Guardian reported.
