Kenneth Colley, English film and television actor whose career spanned 60 years has passed away at age 87.
He came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in the Original Star Wars films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Colley died at his home in Kent, England, on Monday after contracting Covid and developing pneumonia, his agent Julian Owen said in a statement:
“Ken Colley was one of our finest character actors with a career spanning 60 years. Ken continually worked on stage, film, and television playing a vast array of characters, from Jesus in Monty Python’s Life of Brian to evil and eccentric characters in Ken Russell films, and the Duke of Vienna in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure for the BBC.”
Unlike the other ill-fated Imperial officers who appeared alongside him in The Empire Strikes Back, Colley was the only actor to play an Imperial officer in more than one Star Wars film.
Colley reprised his role as Piett in the Cartoon Network animated special Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out in September 2012.
Aside from Star Wars, Colley made many appearances in both TV and film.
His first television appearance was as Noah Riley in the hard-hitting 1970s police drama The Sweeney
He played Jesus in The Life of Brian, having also appeared in the earlier Monty Python-related production Ripping Yarns episode “The Testing of Eric Olthwaite” alongside Michael Palin.
His final TV appearance was in 2016 in the hit BBC show Peaky Blinders.
In recent years, Colley became a popular guest on the Comic Con Convention circuit travelling all around the world meeting his fans.
Indie Mac User 