Kenneth Colley

Known for ActingBorn 1937-12-07Died 2025-06-30Manchester, England, UK

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.Read more

Movies & web series

Come the Revolution

Always and Everyone

The Expert

Peaky Blinders

John Silver's Return to Treasure Island

The Testing of Eric Olthwaite

The Empire Strikes Back

Agatha Christie's Poirot

Dance of the Seven Veils

Kremlin Farewell

The Modern World: Ten Great Writers

The Royal

The Institute

Foyle's War

The Sweeney

Inspector Morse

War and Remembrance

Return of the Jedi

Misfits

Redcap

Life of Brian

Vera

Midsomer Murders

Ripping Yarns

La Vie de Bohème

The Avengers

Pennies from Heaven

New Tricks

The Last Train

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

The Mrs Bradley Mysteries

Seventy Deadly Pills

Heartbeat

The Devils

Dickens of London

The Queen

Flame

Les Misérables

Solomon & Sheba

Screen Two

Peter and Paul

Brassed Off

The Kenny Everett Television Show

Minder

Omnibus

The Scarlet and the Black

Target

Fall of Eagles