Beloved ‘Star Wars’ actor Kenneth Colley has passed away, aged 87
Kenneth Colley, the acclaimed actor widely known for his role in the Star Wars saga, has passed away at the age of 87.
Colley was an important figure in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He played Admiral Piett, the imperial officer who commanded Darth Vader’s flagship. Piett commanded the Executor through the Battle of Endor, where he was killed when an A-wing fighter crashed into the ship’s bridge. Outside of the sci-fi world, Colley’s career spanned an impressive six decades.
His agent, Julian Owen, broke the news in an official statement, which shared that he actor passed away on June 20th in Ashford, Kent. The statement added, “He had been admitted after a fall with an injured arm, however he quickly contracted Covid which developed into pneumonia. He passed away peacefully with friends at his bedside.”
Colley reprised his role in 2012, when he voiced Admiral Piett in the animated Lego production, Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out. In 2007, he directed the horror film Greetings starring Kirsty Cox and Henry Dunn. His agent deemed him “one of our finest character actors.”
Despite his work on the globally adored franchise, Colley’s favourite role was on the stage. The statement from his agent revealed, “Ken’s favourite part was playing Estragon in the stage production of Beckett’s classic Waiting for Godot at the Cockpit Theatre in London in 2014.”
He was a multi-talented actor, taking roles on television as well as in film. The official statement revealed, “He played 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.”
Outside of his impressive and well-recognised career, Colley “loved his garden, art collecting and had a passion for fast cars.”
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