Kenneth Colley
Acting
- Born:
- 1937-12-07
- Died:
- 2025-06-30
- Place of birth:
- Manchester, England, UK
Biography
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.
Known For
Filmography
The Institute
Dan Hawk Psychic Detective
Scar Tissue
Peaky Blinders
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
Vera
The Queen
Misfits
Greetings
Like Father Like Son
New Tricks
The Royal
Foyle's War
Relic Hunter
Hold Back the Night
Always and Everyone
The Last Train
The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
Shadow Run
Midsomer Murders
Brassed Off
Robert Rylands' Last Journey
Solomon & Sheba
Wycliffe
Moving Story
Peak Practice
Unnatural Causes
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
Between the Lines
Heartbeat
La Vie de Bohème
Prisoner of Honor
The Last Island
I Hired a Contract Killer
Kremlin Farewell
The Plot to Kill Hitler
The Rainbow
A Master of the Marionettes
Agatha Christie's Poirot
War and Remembrance
A Summer Story
The Play on One
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
Casanova
Inspector Morse
The Whistle Blower
Casualty
John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
Mussolini: The Untold Story
Function Room
Wallenberg: A Hero's Story
Screen Two
Return to Waterloo
Return of the Jedi
The Scarlet and the Black
Giro City
Firefox
I Remember Nelson
The Kenny Everett Television Show
Peter and Paul
The Empire Strikes Back
Minder
Life of Brian
The Danedyke Mystery
Measure for Measure
Les Misérables
One Bummer News Day
The BBC Television Shakespeare
Pennies from Heaven
Come the Revolution
The Testing of Eric Olthwaite
Target
Jabberwocky
Dickens of London
Three Days in Szczecin
The Chester Mystery Plays
Ripping Yarns
Lisztomania
Flame
The Love School
The Sweeney
Churchill's People
Juggernaut
Mahler
Fall of Eagles
Black and Blue
Hitler: The Last Ten Days
The Triple Echo
Crown Court
The Protectors
New Scotland Yard
The Boy Friend
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
The Devils
The Music Lovers
Play for Today
Performance.
Dance of the Seven Veils
Dear Mother... ...Love Albert
Judge Dee
Cause of Death
The Expert
The Blood Beast Terror
Who Pays?
City '68
How I Won the War
Omnibus
The Jokers
The Informer
Macbeth
BBC Play of the Month
Thirty-Minute Theatre
Three Clear Sundays
Redcap
The Wednesday Play
It's Dark Outside
Seventy Deadly Pills
The Avengers
No Hiding Place
Armchair Theatre