Veteran actor Kenneth Colley, best known for his role as Admiral Piett in the original Star Wars films, has died aged 87.
The Manchester-born star, whose career spanned six decades across stage and screen, passed away on Monday, June 30 after contracting Covid and developing pneumonia.
His agent of 10 years, Julian Owen, confirmed the news in a statement, saying Colley died “peacefully with friends at his bedside”.
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“He had been admitted after a fall with an injured arm, however he quickly contracted Covid which developed into pneumonia,” Owen said. “Ken Colley was one of our finest character actors with a career spanning 60 years.”
He added: “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.”
Colley was a regular on the small screen in later years, with appearances in Holby City, Peaky Blinders and a Doctor Who special. But it was his turn as the straight-faced Admiral Piett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi that cemented his international fame — a role he reprised in the 2012 animated Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out.
Outside of Star Wars, he had parts in Clint Eastwood’s Firefox and the miniseries War and Remembrance. Owen said his favourite role was playing Estragon in Waiting for Godot at London’s Cockpit Theatre in 2014.
“Ken’s participation in Star Wars led him to being invited to conventions and official fan events all over the world where he remains one of the best loved actors from the original trilogy,” he said. “Ken loved his garden, art collecting and had a passion for fast cars.”
