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Kenneth Colley, an actor known best for portraying one of Darth Vader’s admirals in the original Star Wars trilogy, has died. He was 87.
PEOPLE confirmed Colley’s death with his agent Julian Owen on Thursday, July 3. The agent said in a statement that Colley died on Sunday, June 30, at his home in Kent, England, after he contracted COVID and developed pneumonia. The BBC was the first to report news of his death.
“Ken Colley was one of our finest character actors with a career spanning 60 years,” Owen’s statement read. “Ken continually worked on stage, film and television playing a vast array of characters, from Jesus in Monty Python’s Life of Brian to evil and eccentric characters in Ken Russell films, and the Duke of Vienna in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure for the BBC.”
Owen said in his statement that Colley was admitted to a hospital after he injured his arm in a fall and quickly contracted COVID, which developed into a pneumonia diagnosis. The actor “passed away peacefully with friends at his bedside,” Owen said.
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As Owen’s statement mentioned, Colley’s role in the 1979 Monty Python comedy Life of Brian was among one of his best-known film parts, but many more moviegoers will recognize him as the Star Wars character Admiral Piett, who appears alongside Darth Vader in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back and 1983’s Return of the Jedi. As The Atlantic noted in a 2015 article, Colley’s run in both Empire and Jedi makes him the only actor to portray an Imperial officer in the original six Star Wars movies who appears in more than one film.
Outside of Star Wars and Life of Brian, Colley held an acting career that lasted more than five decades. He made his screen acting debut in the early 1960s with roles in episodes of A for Andromeda and The Plane Makers, and added dozens of roles to his resume before being cast in Star Wars.
“Ken’s favorite part was playing Estragon in the stage production of Beckett’s classic Waiting for Godot at the Cockpit Theatre in London in 2014,” Owen said in his statement. “Ken’s participation in Star Wars led him to being invited to conventions and official fan events all over the world, where he remains one of the best-loved actors from the original trilogy. Ken loved his garden, art collecting and had a passion for fast cars.”
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Monty Python comedian Michael Palin, who costarred with Colley in Life of Brian, told The Independent in a statement on July 3 that Colley “was always dependable, always convincing and great to work with.”
“We’ve lost a very special actor and a very good man,” Palin said.
Most recently, Colley appeared in a 2024 movie titled Dan Hawk Psychic Detective and lent his voice to a short film titled I am Tree in 2023. Other notable movies he appeared in include 1982’s Firefox, 1999’s Holding On, the 1988 miniseries War and Remembrance and 1997’s Brassed Off, among others.
