Kenneth Colley, who appeared in such films as “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” and “Monty Python’s Life of Brian,” is dead at the age of 87, TheWrap has learned.
Colley’s agent, Julian Owen, said the actor contracted COVID after landing in the hospital for an arm injury. He then fell ill with pneumonia before he “passed away peacefully with friends at his bedside” on Monday.
“It is with great sadness to report that my client Kenneth Colley passed away Monday 30th June at around 5:30 p.m. in hospital in Ashford, Kent,” 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.”
The actor, who had a wide range of film and television credits dating back to the early 1960s, appeared in the hit “Star Wars” films “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.” Colley portrayed Admiral Firmus Piett, an ambitious high-ranking member of the Empire with a minor arc across the trilogy.
Piett begins “The Empire Strikes Back” as a captain and first officer. He soon finds himself in the position of Admiral after Darth Vader kills Admiral Ozzel, who ordered Imperial ships to exit hyperspace too early and inadvertently alerted the rebels to the Empire’s attack on Hoth. Piett remains in his high position through “Return of the Jedi,” where he dies in the Rebellion’s attack on the second Death Star.
“The big international breakthrough came for Ken in 1980 when he was asked by George Lucas to play Admiral Piett in the ‘Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back,’” Owen said. “A role which he reprised for the sequel ‘Return of the Jedi’ in 1983, and again voiced his character in the ‘Star Wars’ animated Lego production, ‘Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out.’ This led to parts in many big international productions such as Clint Eastwood’s ‘Firefox’ and the Second World War series ‘War and Remembrance.’”
Colley’s character lived on in a number of “Star Wars” projects, appearing in novels, comics and video games from canon and Legends. Owen noted that the actor’s personal favorite role was that of Estragon in a 2014 production of Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” at the Cockpit Theatre in London.
“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,” Owen said.
