Star Wars legend Kenneth Colley dead at 87
The late actor - who is best known for playing Admiral Piett in George Lucas' sci-fi franchise - 'peacefully' passed away on Monday (30.06.25) in Ashford, Kent, after contracting Covid and pneumonia, his agent Julian Owen has said.
In a statement, Owen said: 'He had been admitted after a fall with an injured arm, however he quickly contracted Covid which developed into pneumonia. He passed away peacefully with friends at his bedside.
'Ken Colley was one of our finest character actors with a career spanning 60 years.
'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.'
Colley appeared in 1980's Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back as Admiral Piett, the commander of Darth Vader's flagship, The Executor, and reprised the role for the 1983 sequel Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi.
The actor also voiced Piett in the LEGO animation LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out in 2012.
The statement continued: 'Ken's favourite part was playing Estragon in the stage production of Beckett's classic Waiting for Godot at the Cockpit Theatre in London in 2014.
'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.'
Colley was born on 7 December 1937 in Manchester, and started his acting career in 1961 at the Leicester repertory theatre as a stagehand and ensemble player.
Colley soon joined esteemed companies like the Old Vic in London, the Royal Court, and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The actor's early TV work included a minor role in The Avengers in 1963, and appearances in series such as The Sweeney, and The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes.
Colley's first movie role came in 1964, where he portrayed a Covent Garden Porter in the drama Seventy Deadly Pills.
Colley would later appear in Monty Python's Life of Brian with John Cleese and Michael Palin, in which he portrayed Jesus Christ.
He also worked with Clint Eastwood on the 1982 film Firefox, in which he portrayed Colonel Kontarsky.
In later years, Colley featured in shows like Holby City and a two-part Doctor Who special.
His final on-screen role came in 2016, where he played Vincente Changretta in Series 3 of the BBC TV drama Peaky Blinders.
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One of the Star Wars franchise's most iconic actors has died after developing pneumonia due to complications from a bout of COVID. Kenneth Colley, 87, played the part of Captain, then Admiral Piett on board Darth Vader's star cruiser and roving command centre in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. In some of the most gripping scenes captured in the two movies, Vader terrorised his own crew with Colley's character shuddering as he gained a promotion while standing next to his choking cohort who Vader proclaimed had 'failed him for the last time'. Ken Colley, who played Admiral Piett in Star Wars, has died. Credit: Piett After taking a turn for the worse in hospital, Colley's long term agent Julian Owen released a statement saying the actor had died peacefully on Monday in Ashford, Kent in the UK. 'He had been admitted after a fall with an injured arm, however he quickly contracted Covid which developed into pneumonia, the statement published in The Sun said 'He passed away peacefully with friends at his bedside.' Colley had performed in various stage shows, movies and television productions in a career that spanned over 60 years, and could also lay claim to another iconic film character as Jesus in Monty Python's Life of Brian alongside comedy legends John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Michael Palin. '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,' Mr Owen added in the statement. As the Star Wars universe enjoyed a resurgence in the early 2000's, Colley was able to return as Admiral Priett, voicing the character in the 2012 animated Lego production, Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out. A crowd favourite at comic con expo's and Star Wars signing days the English actor was revered by fans and his peers for a range of roles in various arenas 'Ken's favourite part was playing Estragon in the stage production of Beckett's classic Waiting for Godot at the Cockpit Theatre in London in 2014,' Mr Owen added. '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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One of the Star Wars franchise's most iconic actors has died after developing pneumonia due to complications from a bout of COVID. Kenneth Colley, 87, played the part of Captain, then Admiral Piett on board Darth Vader's star cruiser and roving command centre in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. In some of the most gripping scenes captured in the two movies, Vader terrorised his own crew with Colley's character shuddering as he gained a promotion while standing next to his choking cohort who Vader proclaimed had 'failed him for the last time'. After taking a turn for the worse in hospital, Colley's long term agent Julian Owen released a statement saying the actor had died peacefully on Monday in Ashford, Kent in the UK. 'He had been admitted after a fall with an injured arm, however he quickly contracted Covid which developed into pneumonia, the statement published in The Sun said 'He passed away peacefully with friends at his bedside.' Colley had performed in various stage shows, movies and television productions in a career that spanned over 60 years, and could also lay claim to another iconic film character as Jesus in Monty Python's Life of Brian alongside comedy legends John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Michael Palin. '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,' Mr Owen added in the statement. As the Star Wars universe enjoyed a resurgence in the early 2000's, Colley was able to return as Admiral Priett, voicing the character in the 2012 animated Lego production, Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out. A crowd favourite at comic con expo's and Star Wars signing days the English actor was revered by fans and his peers for a range of roles in various arenas 'Ken's favourite part was playing Estragon in the stage production of Beckett's classic Waiting for Godot at the Cockpit Theatre in London in 2014,' Mr Owen added. '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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Wagga is absolutely not alone in this - in many ways, it's ideally-placed geographically - and those in regional centres and rural communities know the angst well. I also wasn't expecting the surge of musicians and comedians I love making long-awaited visits Down Under. The cost of live gigs aside, it is increasingly expensive to be a music fan while living anywhere outside a capital city. The tickets are nothing compared to what having one incurs. For a one-way flight out of Wagga, you rarely see change from $200 unless it's booked well ahead of time. As I type this, there are just 12 days of July 2025 you could fly to Melbourne with Qantas for less than $219 - and some days it's almost $500 - and if you were organised and got in now you could get to Sydney for $179 in August. Rex is also in the mix, but with similar challenges. Without a concession, the cheapest train ticket out of Wagga to Sydney or Melbourne is around $67 one way. 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Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from the local news teams of the ACM network, which stretches into every state and territory. Today's is written by Daily Advertiser deputy editor Daisy Huntly. Last year I made a decision: I was going to do more in 2025. Off the back of the COVID years, the never-ending crunch of the news cycle, an increasingly miserable state cost of work, family and paying the bills, I wasn't really factoring myself in. We spend so much of our lives doing what we think we should do, or what others expect of us, rather than finding the balance when and how we can. So as long as the bills were paid and I was squirrelling even a little bit away, I should have some things to look forward to, right? Great plan. The limitations and logistics of public transport in regional NSW have made for some creative travel plans for the sake of efficiency and stretching a buck. Wagga is absolutely not alone in this - in many ways, it's ideally-placed geographically - and those in regional centres and rural communities know the angst well. I also wasn't expecting the surge of musicians and comedians I love making long-awaited visits Down Under. The cost of live gigs aside, it is increasingly expensive to be a music fan while living anywhere outside a capital city. The tickets are nothing compared to what having one incurs. For a one-way flight out of Wagga, you rarely see change from $200 unless it's booked well ahead of time. As I type this, there are just 12 days of July 2025 you could fly to Melbourne with Qantas for less than $219 - and some days it's almost $500 - and if you were organised and got in now you could get to Sydney for $179 in August. Rex is also in the mix, but with similar challenges. Without a concession, the cheapest train ticket out of Wagga to Sydney or Melbourne is around $67 one way. For what it's worth, I quite enjoy the XPT and it's my preferred way to get to Melbourne (if I was heading to Sydney, different story). But it's obscene the difference 130km and a state line can make - the alternative for a Melbourne journey is to drive to Albury and jump on the V/Line for about $15 return. It's easy to see why many Wagga families choose this option. For solo travellers by the time you factor in driving time, fuel, vehicle wear and tear and leaving the car for a night or two, the XPT's siren song is singing. I've turned everything I was already doing into frequent flyer points, for the times I can't make anything else work transport-wise. I've boosted every supermarket rewards offer that hit my inbox and watched for accommodation deals like a hawk. I've boarded the XPT to Melbourne at 2.30am, carpooled to Canberra, scored last-minute lifts to the V/Line, cashed in those points. I've fit in NRL games, wrestling, the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Tyler Childers, Randy Houser, Chris Stapleton (what a birthday present), Luke Combs, and at least Bliss n Eso, Oasis and Usher to come. The Oasis purchase in particular racked me with guilt. Yet I'd paid utilities bills and didn't feel a twinge of regret. No one ever beats themselves up about that. The feeling of being in the crowd - whether it's from the pit, a seat or the nosebleeds - is unquantifiable and something everyone should be able to enjoy. Even if it takes a bit more planning than it should. I'm chronically aware many others face this travel dilemma constantly, and for more than just one person, for far more serious reasons. For me, it's all short-term, it's only for a year or so, and looking back on who I've seen in the last eight months alone, there's not a single regret - other than not having done it sooner, and maybe not all at once. It's just a shame the regional tax that comes with it is so harsh. Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from the local news teams of the ACM network, which stretches into every state and territory. Today's is written by Daily Advertiser deputy editor Daisy Huntly. Last year I made a decision: I was going to do more in 2025. Off the back of the COVID years, the never-ending crunch of the news cycle, an increasingly miserable state cost of work, family and paying the bills, I wasn't really factoring myself in. We spend so much of our lives doing what we think we should do, or what others expect of us, rather than finding the balance when and how we can. So as long as the bills were paid and I was squirrelling even a little bit away, I should have some things to look forward to, right? Great plan. The limitations and logistics of public transport in regional NSW have made for some creative travel plans for the sake of efficiency and stretching a buck. Wagga is absolutely not alone in this - in many ways, it's ideally-placed geographically - and those in regional centres and rural communities know the angst well. I also wasn't expecting the surge of musicians and comedians I love making long-awaited visits Down Under. The cost of live gigs aside, it is increasingly expensive to be a music fan while living anywhere outside a capital city. The tickets are nothing compared to what having one incurs. For a one-way flight out of Wagga, you rarely see change from $200 unless it's booked well ahead of time. As I type this, there are just 12 days of July 2025 you could fly to Melbourne with Qantas for less than $219 - and some days it's almost $500 - and if you were organised and got in now you could get to Sydney for $179 in August. Rex is also in the mix, but with similar challenges. Without a concession, the cheapest train ticket out of Wagga to Sydney or Melbourne is around $67 one way. For what it's worth, I quite enjoy the XPT and it's my preferred way to get to Melbourne (if I was heading to Sydney, different story). But it's obscene the difference 130km and a state line can make - the alternative for a Melbourne journey is to drive to Albury and jump on the V/Line for about $15 return. It's easy to see why many Wagga families choose this option. For solo travellers by the time you factor in driving time, fuel, vehicle wear and tear and leaving the car for a night or two, the XPT's siren song is singing. I've turned everything I was already doing into frequent flyer points, for the times I can't make anything else work transport-wise. I've boosted every supermarket rewards offer that hit my inbox and watched for accommodation deals like a hawk. I've boarded the XPT to Melbourne at 2.30am, carpooled to Canberra, scored last-minute lifts to the V/Line, cashed in those points. I've fit in NRL games, wrestling, the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Tyler Childers, Randy Houser, Chris Stapleton (what a birthday present), Luke Combs, and at least Bliss n Eso, Oasis and Usher to come. The Oasis purchase in particular racked me with guilt. Yet I'd paid utilities bills and didn't feel a twinge of regret. No one ever beats themselves up about that. The feeling of being in the crowd - whether it's from the pit, a seat or the nosebleeds - is unquantifiable and something everyone should be able to enjoy. Even if it takes a bit more planning than it should. I'm chronically aware many others face this travel dilemma constantly, and for more than just one person, for far more serious reasons. For me, it's all short-term, it's only for a year or so, and looking back on who I've seen in the last eight months alone, there's not a single regret - other than not having done it sooner, and maybe not all at once. It's just a shame the regional tax that comes with it is so harsh.
