87
Age
55
Movies
57
TV Shows
7.5
Rating
Kenneth Colley (7 December 1937 — 30 June 2025) was an English actor. A long-time character actor, he came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
87
Died at
55
Movies
57
TV Shows
7.5
Avg Rating
Kenneth Colley (7 December 1937 — 30 June 2025) was an English actor. A long-time character actor, he came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
1989
Kenneth Colley (7 December 1937 — 30 June 2025) was an English actor. A long-time character actor, he came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
Colley was born in Manchester. He played Jesus (very briefly indeed) in Life of Brian (1979), having also appeared in the earlier Python-related production Ripping Yarns episode "The Testing of Eric Olthwaite" alongside Michael Palin. As a Shakespearean actor, he played the Duke of Vienna in the BBC Television Shakespeare production of Measure for Measure (also 1979).
Colley also held an important role in the Clint Eastwood film Firefox, as a Soviet Colonel tasked with the protection of the Firefox and its secrets. Colley portrayed SS-Standartenführer Paul Blobel in the World War II drama War and Remembrance. His character was charged with hiding the evidence of the Holocaust, and putting dead victims through "Economic Processing".
According to comments Terry Gilliam (who directed him in Jabberwocky and co-starred with him in Life of Brian) made in the DVD audio commentaries for both films, Colley is a terrible stutterer in real life. When he had a role in a film, however, he could recite the lines perfectly. Stuttering is a character trait, however, in his role as the "Accordion Man" in the BBC television drama Pennies from Heaven (1978). He has also recently starred in BBC's HolbyBlue as a drunk and violent father, grandfather and father-in-law.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Kenneth Colley, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Gender
Male
Birthday
December 7, 1937
Died
June 30, 2025
Birthplace
Manchester, England, UK
Also Known As
The Empire Strikes Back
1980
Return of the Jedi
1983
Jabberwocky
1977
Who Pays?
1968
Like Father Like Son
2005
Life of Brian
1979
Hold Back the Night
1999
The Last Island
1990
Les Misérables
1978
The Danedyke Mystery
1979
Prisoner of Honor
1991
The Whistle Blower
1986
The Music Lovers
1971
Brassed Off
1996
Three Clear Sundays
1965
I Hired a Contract Killer
1990
The Jokers
1967
The Rainbow
1989
The Devils
1971
Firefox
1982
+ 35 more movies
Midsomer Murders
1997
Peaky Blinders
2013
Agatha Christie's Poirot
1989
Vera
2011
Foyle's War
2002
Minder
1979
The Avengers
1961
The Institute
2025
Casualty
1986
Casualty
1986
Casualty
1986
Heartbeat
1992
Play for Today
1970
Play for Today
1970
BBC Play of the Month
1965
Omnibus
1967
Inspector Morse
1987
Relic Hunter
1999
New Tricks
2004
Peak Practice
1993
+ 37 more TV shows