A passive remote control device (20, 50) is powered remotely by a radio frequency exciter/receiver (14, 42) and used in a remote control system (100, 200) to control operation of a controlled device (10, 40), such as, for example, a television, video game controller, VCR, or CD player. The remote control device and the exciter/receiver communicate without wires via electrostatic or electromagnetic radiation. No line of sight connection to the passive remote control unit is required. No power source is integrated with the remote control device. The remote control device has a plurality of keys (22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32) or control members that are manually actuated. Depression of a key or button, or other actuation of a control member, causes a response signal associated with that key to be generated. The response signal relates to an operation for the controlled device.