Kenneth Colley
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 7, 1937
- Died
- June 30, 2025 (aged 87)
- Birthplace
- Manchester, England, UK
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.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Dan Hawk Psychic Detective
Movie · as Thaddeus Moncrief
The Institute
TV · as Gate Guard #5 · 1 ep
Scar Tissue
Movie · as Weaver
Peaky Blinders
TV · as Vicente Changretta · 2 eps
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
Movie · as Admiral Piett (voice)
Vera
TV · as Ronald Devreux · 1 ep
The Queen
TV · 5 eps
Misfits
TV · as Old Rudy · 1 ep
Greetings
Movie · as Ken
Like Father Like Son
Movie · as Rawsthorne
New Tricks
TV · 1 ep
The Royal
TV · as Bernard Hussey · 1 ep
Foyle's War
TV · as Brian Jones · 1 ep
Hold Back the Night
Movie · as Uncle Bob
The Last Train
TV · 1 ep
Relic Hunter
TV · as Professor Lamenza · 1 ep
Always and Everyone
TV · as Joseph · 1 ep
Shadow Run
Movie · as Larcombe
The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
TV · as Archie Burlington · 1 ep
Midsomer Murders
TV · as Lloyd Kirby · 1 ep
Brassed Off
Movie · as Greasley
Robert Rylands' Last Journey
Movie · as Archdale
Solomon & Sheba
Movie · as Nathan
Wycliffe
TV · as Sam Peploe · 1 ep
Moving Story
TV · as Ken Uttley · 14 eps
Unnatural Causes
Movie · as Inspector Gerry Reckless
Peak Practice
TV · as Stan Jordan · 1 ep
La Vie de Bohème
Movie · as Street Sweeper
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
Movie · as John Ireland
Heartbeat
TV · as Clive Harris · 1 ep
Between the Lines
TV · as Chief Supt. Tattersall · 1 ep
Prisoner of Honor
Movie · as Capt. Dreyfus
I Hired a Contract Killer
Movie · as The Killer
Kremlin Farewell
Movie · as Sergej
The Plot to Kill Hitler
Movie · as Wilhelm Keitel
The Last Island
Movie · as Nick
A Master of the Marionettes
Movie · as Inspector Tennyson
The Rainbow
Movie · as Mr. Brunt
Agatha Christie's Poirot
TV · as Mathew Davenheim · 1 ep
A Summer Story
Movie · as Jim
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
TV · as Chief Inspector Heat · 1 ep
War and Remembrance
TV · as Paul Blobel · 2 eps
The Play on One
TV · as DI Tennyson · 1 ep
Casanova
Movie · as Le Duc
Inspector Morse
TV · as DCI Patrick Dawson · 1 ep
When Reason Sleeps
TV · as James Bentik · 1 ep
The Whistle Blower
Movie · as Bill Pickett
John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
TV · as Ben Gunn · 10 eps
Casualty
TV · as Paddy, Clifford Watkins, Arthur Cobb · 1 ep
Mussolini: The Untold Story
TV · as King Vittorio Emmanuele · 4 eps
Wallenberg: A Hero's Story
TV · as Adolf Eichmann · 2 eps
Screen Two
TV · as Sergej · 1 ep
Function Room
TV · 1 ep
Return to Waterloo
Movie · as The Traveller
The Scarlet and the Black
Movie · as Capt. Hirsch
Return of the Jedi
Movie · as Admiral Piett
Firefox
Movie · as Colonel Kontarsky
Giro City
Movie · as Martin
The Kenny Everett Television Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
I Remember Nelson
TV · as ice-Adm. Horatio Viscount Nelson · 4 eps
Peter and Paul
TV · as Theodotus · 2 eps
The Empire Strikes Back
Movie · as Admiral Piett
Life of Brian
Movie · as Jesus
The Danedyke Mystery
Movie · as The Major
Measure for Measure
Movie · as Duke Vincentio
Minder
TV · as Ron · 1 ep
Les Misérables
Movie · as Police Prefect
One Bummer News Day
Movie · as Frank Benyon
Pennies from Heaven
TV · as The Accordion Man · 6 eps
The BBC Television Shakespeare
TV · as Duke Vincentio · 1 ep
Jabberwocky
Movie · as 1st Fanatic
The Testing of Eric Olthwaite
Movie · as Robber
Come the Revolution
Movie · as Bruce Tetley
Target
TV · as Jessal · 1 ep
Three Days in Szczecin
Movie · as Edmund Bałuka
The Chester Mystery Plays
Movie
Ripping Yarns
TV · as Robber · 1 ep
Dickens of London
TV · as Robert Seymour · 1 ep
Lisztomania
Movie · as Frederic Chopin
Flame
Movie · as Tony Devlin
The Sweeney
TV · as Noah Riley · 1 ep
The Love School
TV · as Edward Burne-Jones · 3 eps
Juggernaut
Movie · as Detective Brown
Mahler
Movie · as Krenek
Fall of Eagles
TV · as Father Gapon · 1 ep
Churchill's People
TV · as Ancient Beau · 1 ep
Hitler: The Last Ten Days
Movie · as Boldt
Black and Blue
TV · as Schultz · 1 ep
The Triple Echo
Movie · as Provo Corporal
Crown Court
TV · as Stanley Meredith · 2 eps
The Protectors
TV · as Devlin · 1 ep
New Scotland Yard
TV · as Peter Elliot · 1 ep
The Music Lovers
Movie · as Modeste Tchaikovsky
The Boy Friend
Movie · as King in fantasy sequence (uncredited)
The Devils
Movie · as Legrand
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
TV · as Farrish · 2 eps
Dance of the Seven Veils
Movie
Performance.
Movie · as Tony Farrell
Play for Today
TV · as Bruce Tetley, Frank Benyon · 1 ep
Judge Dee
TV
Dear Mother... ...Love Albert
TV · 1 ep
The Blood Beast Terror
Movie · as James
Who Pays?
Movie · as Corbett
Cause of Death
Movie · as Dr. Emil Justin
The Expert
TV · as Foreman, Munt · 1 ep
The Jokers
Movie · as De Winter
How I Won the War
Movie · as 2nd Replacement
Omnibus
TV · as Hitler · 1 ep
City '68
TV · as Corbett · 1 ep
Macbeth
Movie · as Macbeth's servant
The Informer
TV · as Slater · 1 ep
Three Clear Sundays
Movie · as Nick
Thirty-Minute Theatre
TV · as Paddy, Dr. Emil Justin, Adolf Hitler, Charles I · 1 ep
BBC Play of the Month
TV · as Yolinichev · 1 ep
The Wednesday Play
TV · as Bethold Florenberg · 1 ep
It's Dark Outside
TV · as Hammond · 1 ep
Redcap
TV · as Private Bolt · 1 ep
Seventy Deadly Pills
Movie · as Covent Garden porter
The Avengers
TV · 1 ep
No Hiding Place
TV · 1 ep
Armchair Theatre
TV · as Jimmy · 1 ep