Kenneth Colley
Born: 1937-12-07 in Manchester, England, UK
Died: 2025-06-30
Known For: 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.
Filmography
2025
- The Institute as Gate Guard #5
2013
- Peaky Blinders as Vicente Changretta
- Scar Tissue as Weaver
2012
- LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out as Admiral Piett (voice)
2011
- Vera as Ronald Devreux
2007
- Greetings as Ken
2005
- Like Father Like Son as Rawsthorne
2004
2003
- The Royal as Bernard Hussey
2002
- Foyle's War as Brian Jones
1999
- Relic Hunter as Professor Lamenza
- Always and Everyone as Joseph
- The Last Train
- Hold Back the Night as Uncle Bob
1998
- The Mrs Bradley Mysteries as Archie Burlington
- Shadow Run as Larcombe
1997
- Midsomer Murders as Lloyd Kirby
1996
- Brassed Off as Greasley
- Robert Rylands' Last Journey as Archdale
1995
- Solomon & Sheba as Nathan
1994
- Wycliffe as Sam Peploe
1993
- Peak Practice as Stan Jordan
- Unnatural Causes as Inspector Gerry Reckless
1992
- Heartbeat as Clive Harris
- Between the Lines as Chief Supt. Tattersall
- La Vie de Bohème as Street Sweeper
- The Secret Life of Arnold Bax as John Ireland
1991
- Prisoner of Honor as Capt. Dreyfus
1990
- I Hired a Contract Killer as The Killer
- The Last Island as Nick
- The Plot to Kill Hitler as Wilhelm Keitel
- Kremlin Farewell as Sergej
1989
- Agatha Christie's Poirot as Mathew Davenheim
- The Rainbow as Mr. Brunt
- A Master of the Marionettes as Inspector Tennyson
1988
- The Modern World: Ten Great Writers as Chief Inspector Heat
- War and Remembrance as Paul Blobel
- The Play on One as DI Tennyson
- A Summer Story as Jim
1987
- Inspector Morse as DCI Patrick Dawson
- Casanova as Le Duc
1986
- Casualty as Paddy
- John Silver's Return to Treasure Island as Ben Gunn
- The Whistle Blower as Bill Pickett
1985
- Mussolini: The Untold Story as King Vittorio Emmanuele
- Wallenberg: A Hero's Story as Adolf Eichmann
1984
- Return to Waterloo as The Traveller
1983
- Return of the Jedi as Admiral Piett
- The Scarlet and the Black as Capt. Hirsch
1982
- The Kenny Everett Television Show as Self
- Firefox as Colonel Kontarsky
- I Remember Nelson as ice-Adm. Horatio Viscount Nelson
- I Remember Nelson as Vice-Adm. Horatio Viscount Nelson
- Giro City as Martin
1981
- Peter and Paul as Theodotus
1980
- The Empire Strikes Back as Admiral Piett
1979
- Minder as Ron
- Life of Brian as Jesus
- Measure for Measure as Duke Vincentio
- The Danedyke Mystery as The Major
1978
- Pennies from Heaven as The Accordion Man
- Les Misérables as Police Prefect
- One Bummer News Day as Frank Benyon
1977
- Target as Jessal
- Jabberwocky as 1st Fanatic
- Come the Revolution as Bruce Tetley
- The Testing of Eric Olthwaite as Robber
1976
- Dickens of London as Robert Seymour
- Ripping Yarns as Robber
- The Chester Mystery Plays
- Three Days in Szczecin as Edmund Bałuka
1975
- The Sweeney as Noah Riley
- The Love School as Edward Burne-Jones
- Lisztomania as Frederic Chopin
- Flame as Tony Devlin
1974
- Churchill's People as Ancient Beau
- Fall of Eagles as Father Gapon
- Juggernaut as Detective Brown
- Mahler as Krenek
1973
- Black and Blue as Schultz
- Hitler: The Last Ten Days as Boldt
1972
- Crown Court as Stanley Meredith
- The Protectors as Devlin
- New Scotland Yard as Peter Elliot
- The Triple Echo as Provo Corporal
1971
- The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes as Farrish
- The Devils as Legrand
- The Boy Friend as King in fantasy sequence (uncredited)
- The Music Lovers as Modeste Tchaikovsky
1970
- Play for Today as Bruce Tetley
- Performance as Tony Farrell
- Dance of the Seven Veils
1968
- The Expert as Foreman
- The Blood Beast Terror as James
- Who Pays? as Corbett
- Cause of Death as Dr. Emil Justin
1967
- Omnibus as Hitler
- How I Won the War as 2nd Replacement
- The Jokers as De Winter
1966
- The Informer as Slater
1965
- BBC Play of the Month as Yolinichev
- Thirty-Minute Theatre as Paddy
- Three Clear Sundays as Nick
1964
- The Wednesday Play as Bethold Florenberg
- Redcap as Private Bolt
- It's Dark Outside as Hammond
1963
- Seventy Deadly Pills as Covent Garden porter
1961
1959
1956
- Armchair Theatre as Jimmy