Star Wars actor Kenneth Colley, who played Admiral Piett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, has died aged 87.
Colley’s Admiral Piett was an imperial officer in command of Darth Vader’s flagship. Nearly 30 years after Return of the Jedi’s release, he reprised the role for 2012 animation Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out. Colley also played Jesus in the much-loved Monty Python’s Life of Brian.
According to the BBC, Colley died peacefully at his home in Kent in the UK on Monday after contracting Covid and developing pneumonia.
His agent Julian 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.”
Colley had been admitted to hospital with an injured arm after a fall, but he quickly contracted Covid which developed into pneumonia, his agent explained.
According to the Daily Mail, Colley’s Star Wars character Piett wasn’t supposed to appear in Return of the Jedi, but then Star Wars custodian George Lucas added him because Lucasfilm had received “a lot of fan mail” about the character.
Colley also said he got the role for The Empire Strikes Back because director Irvin Kershner was “looking for someone that would frighten Hitler,” and he fit the bill.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.