Kenneth Colley
Born December 07, 1937 (Age: 88)
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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.
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.
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Filmography
Shadow Run
1998
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as Larcombe
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Age: 60
Brassed Off
1996
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as Greasley
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Age: 58
Robert Rylands' Last Journey
1996
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as Archdale
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Age: 58
Unnatural Causes
1993
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as Inspector Gerry Reckless
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Age: 55
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
1992
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as John Ireland
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Age: 54
La Vie de Bohème
1992
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as Street Sweeper
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Age: 54
Prisoner of Honor
1991
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as Capt. Dreyfus
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Age: 53
The Last Island
1990
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as Nick
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Age: 52
I Hired a Contract Killer
1990
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as The Killer
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Age: 52
Kremlin Farewell
1990
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as Sergej
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Age: 52
The Plot to Kill Hitler
1990
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as Wilhelm Keitel
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Age: 52
The Rainbow
1989
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as Mr. Brunt
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Age: 51
A Master of the Marionettes
1989
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as Inspector Tennyson
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Age: 51
A Summer Story
1988
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as Jim
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Age: 50
Casanova
1987
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as Le Duc
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Age: 49
Return of the Jedi
1983
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as Admiral Piett
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Age: 45
Firefox
1982
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as Colonel Kontarsky
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Age: 44
The Empire Strikes Back
1980
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as Admiral Piett
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Age: 42
Life of Brian
1979
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as Jesus
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Age: 41
The Danedyke Mystery
1979
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as The Major
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Age: 41
Les Misérables
1978
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as Police Prefect
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Age: 41
One Bummer News Day
1978
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as Frank Benyon
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Age: 41
Come the Revolution
1977
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as Bruce Tetley
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Age: 39
The Testing of Eric Olthwaite
1977
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as Robber
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Age: 39
Jabberwocky
1977
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as 1st Fanatic
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Age: 39
No Image
Three Days in Szczecin
1976
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as Edmund Bałuka
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Age: 38
The Chester Mystery Plays
1976
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as
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Age: 38
Juggernaut
1974
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as Detective Brown
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Age: 36
Mahler
1974
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as Krenek
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Age: 36
Hitler: The Last Ten Days
1973
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as Boldt
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Age: 35
The Triple Echo
1972
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as Provo Corporal
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Age: 34
The Boy Friend
1971
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as King in fantasy sequence (uncredited)
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Age: 34
The Devils
1971
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as Legrand
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Age: 33
No Image
Cause of Death
1968
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as Dr. Emil Justin
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Age: 30
No Image
Who Pays?
1968
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as Corbett
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Age: 30
Three Clear Sundays
1965
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as Nick
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Age: 27
Seventy Deadly Pills
1963
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as Covent Garden porter
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Age: 25