Kenneth Colley
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.
115 acting credits · 1 directing credit
Acting · 115
Midsomer Murders
1997
Peaky Blinders
2013
The Avengers
1961
Agatha Christie's Poirot
1989
Casualty
1986
Vera
2011
Play for Today
1970
Crown Court
1972
Minder
1979
Heartbeat
1992
Peak Practice
1993
BBC Play of the Month
1965
Relic Hunter
1999
New Tricks
2004
Inspector Morse
1987
Foyle's War
2002
The Sweeney
1975
Omnibus
1967
Screen Two
1985
The Wednesday Play
1964
No Hiding Place
1959
Misfits
2009
The Empire Strikes Back
1980
The Protectors
1972
Wycliffe
1994
Between the Lines
1992
Return of the Jedi
1983
The Expert
1968
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
1971
Churchill's People
1974
The Institute
2025
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965
Fall of Eagles
1974
War and Remembrance
1988
The Play on One
1988
The Kenny Everett Television Show
1982
Target
1977
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
1988
Life of Brian
1979
Redcap
1964
New Scotland Yard
1972
The Informer
1966
Pennies from Heaven
1978
The Queen
2009
Always and Everyone
1999
Mussolini: The Untold Story
1985
Dickens of London
1976
Ripping Yarns
1976
Firefox
1982
The Devils
1971
Black and Blue
1973
Peter and Paul
1981
Armchair Theatre
1956
The Last Train
1999
The Love School
1975
John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
1986
It's Dark Outside
1964
Brassed Off
1996
Performance
1970
Les Misérables
1978
Lisztomania
1975
The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
1998
Dear Mother... ...Love Albert
1969
Juggernaut
1974
Wallenberg: A Hero's Story
1985
Hitler: The Last Ten Days
1973
The Scarlet and the Black
1983
Jabberwocky
1977
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
2012
The Royal
2003
Casanova
1987
The Rainbow
1989
Judge Dee
1969
Solomon & Sheba
1995
Mahler
1974
A Summer Story
1988
La Vie de Bohème
1992
I Hired a Contract Killer
1990
How I Won the War
1967
Prisoner of Honor
1991
Shadow Run
1998
The Jokers
1967
The Whistle Blower
1986
Robert Rylands' Last Journey
1996
I Remember Nelson
1982
The Blood Beast Terror
1968
Like Father Like Son
2005
The Boy Friend
1971
The Plot to Kill Hitler
1990
The Last Island
1990
The Music Lovers
1971
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
1992
Flame
1975
I Remember Nelson
1982
Measure for Measure
1979
A Master of the Marionettes
1989
Unnatural Causes
1993
The Triple Echo
1972
Kremlin Farewell
1990
Giro City
1982
The Testing of Eric Olthwaite
1977
Scar Tissue
2013
Hold Back the Night
1999
Three Clear Sundays
1965
Dance of the Seven Veils
1970
Who Pays?
1968
The Danedyke Mystery
1979
Return to Waterloo
1984
One Bummer News Day
1978
Come the Revolution
1977
Seventy Deadly Pills
1963
The Chester Mystery Plays
1976
Cause of Death
1968
Greetings
2007
Three Days in Szczecin
1976