Kenneth Colley
Acting
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.
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
as Admiral Piett (voice)
Age 74 (now 87)
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
as Admiral Piett (voice)
Age 74 (now 87)
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
as John Ireland
Age 54 (now 87)
The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
as Archie Burlington
Age 60 (now 87)
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
as Chief Inspector Heat
Age 50 (now 87)
John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
as Ben Gunn
Age 48 (now 87)
Mussolini: The Untold Story
as King Vittorio Emmanuele
Age 47 (now 87)
Wallenberg: A Hero's Story
as Adolf Eichmann
Age 47 (now 87)
I Remember Nelson
as ice-Adm. Horatio Viscount Nelson
Age 44 (now 87)
The Kenny Everett Television Show
as Self
Age 44 (now 87)
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
as Farrish
Age 33 (now 87)
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Also Known As
Kenneth Cooley, Ken Colley
IMDB
nm0171829