Kenneth Colley
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 7, 1937
- Died
- June 30, 2025
- Birthplace
- Manchester, 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.
Filmography
Dan Hawk Psychic Detective 2025
as Thaddeus Moncrief
Scar Tissue 2013
as Weaver
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out 2012
as Admiral Piett (voice)
Greetings 2007
as Ken, Director, Writer, Producer
Like Father Like Son 2005
as Rawsthorne
- Hold Back the Night
Hold Back the Night 1999
as Uncle Bob
Shadow Run 1998
as Larcombe
Brassed Off 1996
as Greasley
Robert Rylands' Last Journey 1996
as Archdale
Solomon & Sheba 1995
as Nathan
Unnatural Causes 1993
as Inspector Gerry Reckless
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax 1992
as John Ireland
La Vie de Bohème 1992
as Street Sweeper
Prisoner of Honor 1991
as Capt. Dreyfus
The Last Island 1990
as Nick
I Hired a Contract Killer 1990
as The Killer
Kremlin Farewell 1990
as Sergej
The Plot to Kill Hitler 1990
as Wilhelm Keitel
The Rainbow 1989
as Mr. Brunt
A Master of the Marionettes 1989
as Inspector Tennyson
A Summer Story 1988
as Jim
Casanova 1987
as Le Duc
The Whistle Blower 1986
as Bill Pickett
Return to Waterloo 1984
as The Traveller
Return of the Jedi 1983
as Admiral Piett
The Scarlet and the Black 1983
as Capt. Hirsch
Giro City 1982
as Martin
Firefox 1982
as Colonel Kontarsky
The Empire Strikes Back 1980
as Admiral Piett
Life of Brian 1979
as Jesus
The Danedyke Mystery 1979
as The Major
Measure for Measure 1979
as Duke Vincentio
Les Misérables 1978
as Police Prefect
One Bummer News Day 1978
as Frank Benyon
Come the Revolution 1977
as Bruce Tetley
The Testing of Eric Olthwaite 1977
as Robber
Jabberwocky 1977
as 1st Fanatic
- Three Days in Szczecin
Three Days in Szczecin 1976
as Edmund Bałuka
The Chester Mystery Plays 1976
Actor
Lisztomania 1975
as Frederic Chopin
Flame 1975
as Tony Devlin
Juggernaut 1974
as Detective Brown
Mahler 1974
as Krenek
Hitler: The Last Ten Days 1973
as Boldt
The Triple Echo 1972
as Provo Corporal
The Boy Friend 1971
as King in fantasy sequence (uncredited)
The Devils 1971
as Legrand
The Music Lovers 1971
as Modeste Tchaikovsky
Performance. 1970
as Tony Farrell
Dance of the Seven Veils 1970
Actor
- Cause of Death
Cause of Death 1968
as Dr. Emil Justin
The Blood Beast Terror 1968
as James
- Who Pays?
Who Pays? 1968
as Corbett
How I Won the War 1967
as 2nd Replacement
The Jokers 1967
as De Winter
- Macbeth
Macbeth 1966
as Macbeth's servant
Three Clear Sundays 1965
as Nick
Seventy Deadly Pills 1963
as Covent Garden porter
Credits from TMDB.