Kenneth Colley
Acting
Biography
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.
Born: December 7, 1937
Place of Birth: Manchester, England, UK
Known For
Filmography
as Gate Guard #5
as Thaddeus Moncrief
as Vicente Changretta
as Weaver
as Admiral Piett (voice)
as Ronald Devreux
as Old Rudy
as Ken
as Rawsthorne
as Bernard Hussey
as Brian Jones
as Professor Lamenza
as Joseph
as Archie Burlington
as Larcombe
as Lloyd Kirby
as Greasley
as Archdale
as Nathan
as Sam Peploe
as Stan Jordan
as Inspector Gerry Reckless
as John Ireland
as Chief Supt. Tattersall
as Clive Harris
as Street Sweeper
as Capt. Dreyfus
as Nick
as The Killer
as Sergej
as Wilhelm Keitel
as Mr. Brunt
as Inspector Tennyson
as Mathew Davenheim
as Jim
as Chief Inspector Heat
as Le Duc
as DCI Patrick Dawson
as Bill Pickett
as Paddy
as Clifford Watkins
as Arthur Cobb
as Ben Gunn
as King Vittorio Emmanuele
as Adolf Eichmann
as The Traveller
as Admiral Piett
as Capt. Hirsch
as Martin
as Colonel Kontarsky
as Vice-Adm. Horatio Viscount Nelson
as Theodotus
as Admiral Piett
as Ron
as Jesus
as The Major
as Duke Vincentio
as Police Prefect
as Frank Benyon
as The Accordion Man
as Bruce Tetley
as Robber
as Jessal
as 1st Fanatic
as Robert Seymour
as Robber
as Frederic Chopin
as Tony Devlin
as Edward Burne-Jones
as Noah Riley
as Detective Brown
as Krenek
as Father Gapon
as Boldt
as Provo Corporal
as Stanley Meredith
as Devlin
as King in fantasy sequence (uncredited)
as Farrish
as Legrand
as Modeste Tchaikovsky
as Bruce Tetley
as Frank Benyon
as Tony Farrell
as Foreman
as Munt
as James
as 2nd Replacement
as Hitler
as De Winter
as Slater
as Yolinichev
as Paddy
as Nick
as Bethold Florenberg
as Hammond
as Covent Garden porter
as Dead Body (uncredited)