Kenneth Colley
Known for: Acting
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
Series
Midsomer Murders
Lloyd Kirby
1997
Series
Peaky Blinders
Vicente Changretta
2013
Series
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Mathew Davenheim
1989
Series
Play for Today
Bruce Tetley
1970
Series
Play for Today
Frank Benyon
1970
Series
Casualty
Paddy
1986
Series
Casualty
Clifford Watkins
1986
Series
Casualty
Arthur Cobb
1986
Series
The Avengers
1961
Series
Vera
Ronald Devreux
2011
Series
Minder
Ron
1979
Series
Heartbeat
Clive Harris
1992
Series
Foyle's War
Brian Jones
2002
Series
Crown Court
Stanley Meredith
1972
Series
Peak Practice
Stan Jordan
1993
Series
The Wednesday Play
Bethold Florenberg
1964
Series
Inspector Morse
DCI Patrick Dawson
1987
Series
BBC Play of the Month
Yolinichev
1965
Series
Screen Two
Sergej
1985
Series
Misfits
Old Rudy
2009
Series
Relic Hunter
Professor Lamenza
1999
Film
The Empire Strikes Back
Admiral Piett
1980
Series
New Tricks
2004
Series
Omnibus
Hitler
1967
Film
Return of the Jedi
Admiral Piett
1983
Series
The Institute
Gate Guard #5
2025
Series
No Hiding Place
1959
Series
The Sweeney
Noah Riley
1975
Series
Thirty-Minute Theatre
Paddy
1965
Series
Thirty-Minute Theatre
Dr. Emil Justin
1965
Series
Thirty-Minute Theatre
Adolf Hitler
1965
Series
Thirty-Minute Theatre
Charles I
1965
Series
Wycliffe
Sam Peploe
1994
Series
Between the Lines
Chief Supt. Tattersall
1992
Series
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
Farrish
1971
Film
Life of Brian
Jesus
1979
Series
The Protectors
Devlin
1972
Series
The Play on One
DI Tennyson
1988
Series
Churchill's People
Ancient Beau
1974
Series
War and Remembrance
Paul Blobel
1988
Series
The Expert
Foreman
1968
Series
The Expert
Munt
1968
Series
New Scotland Yard
Peter Elliot
1972
Series
The BBC Television Shakespeare
Duke Vincentio
1978
Series
Dickens of London
Robert Seymour
1976
Series
Target
Jessal
1977
City '68
Corbett
1967
Film
The Devils
Legrand
1971
Film
Firefox
Colonel Kontarsky
1982
Series
Fall of Eagles
Father Gapon
1974
Series
Always and Everyone
Joseph
1999
Series
The Kenny Everett Television Show
Self
1982
Series
John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
Ben Gunn
1986
Series
Redcap
Private Bolt
1964
Series
Pennies from Heaven
The Accordion Man
1978
Series
The Informer
Slater
1966
Film
Brassed Off
Greasley
1996
Film
Jabberwocky
1st Fanatic
1977
Series
The Queen
2009
Series
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
Chief Inspector Heat
1988
Film
Juggernaut
Detective Brown
1974
Series
The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
Archie Burlington
1998
Black and Blue
Schultz
1973
Series
It's Dark Outside
Hammond
1964
Series
Peter and Paul
Theodotus
1981
Series
Ripping Yarns
Robber
1976
Series
The Love School
Edward Burne-Jones
1975
Film
Les Misérables
Police Prefect
1978
Series
Mussolini: The Untold Story
King Vittorio Emmanuele
1985
Film
The Scarlet and the Black
Capt. Hirsch
1983
Series
The Last Train
1999
Film
La Vie de Bohème
Street Sweeper
1992
Film
Mahler
Krenek
1974
Film
Hitler: The Last Ten Days
Boldt
1973
Film
The Boy Friend
King in fantasy sequence (uncredited)
1971
Film
Casanova
Le Duc
1987
Film
The Whistle Blower
Bill Pickett
1986
Film
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
Admiral Piett (voice)
2012
Series
Wallenberg: A Hero's Story
Adolf Eichmann
1985
Film
Performance.
Tony Farrell
1970
Film
Lisztomania
Frederic Chopin
1975
Series
Dear Mother... ...Love Albert
1969
Series
Judge Dee
1969
Film
The Jokers
De Winter
1967
Series
Armchair Theatre
Jimmy
1956
Film
Greetings
Ken
2007
Film
How I Won the War
2nd Replacement
1967
Macbeth
Macbeth's servant
1966
Film
The Chester Mystery Plays
1976
Film
I Hired a Contract Killer
The Killer
1990
Film
The Music Lovers
Modeste Tchaikovsky
1971
Film
A Summer Story
Jim
1988
Film
The Blood Beast Terror
James
1968
Film
Shadow Run
Larcombe
1998
Film
The Rainbow
Mr. Brunt
1989
Film
The Last Island
Nick
1990
Film
The Plot to Kill Hitler
Wilhelm Keitel
1990
Film
Solomon & Sheba
Nathan
1995
I Remember Nelson
ice-Adm. Horatio Viscount Nelson
1982
Film
The Triple Echo
Provo Corporal
1972
Film
Prisoner of Honor
Capt. Dreyfus
1991
Film
Like Father Like Son
Rawsthorne
2005
Film
Unnatural Causes
Inspector Gerry Reckless
1993
Film
Measure for Measure
Duke Vincentio
1979
Film
Flame
Tony Devlin
1975
Film
Robert Rylands' Last Journey
Archdale
1996
Film
The Testing of Eric Olthwaite
Robber
1977
Film
Giro City
Martin
1982
Series
The Royal
Bernard Hussey
2003
Film
Scar Tissue
Weaver
2013
Film
The Danedyke Mystery
The Major
1979
Film
I Remember Nelson
Vice-Adm. Horatio Viscount Nelson
1982
Hold Back the Night
Uncle Bob
1999
Film
Kremlin Farewell
Sergej
1990
Film
A Master of the Marionettes
Inspector Tennyson
1989
Film
Seventy Deadly Pills
Covent Garden porter
1963
Film
Return to Waterloo
The Traveller
1984
Three Days in Szczecin
Edmund Bałuka
1976
Cause of Death
Dr. Emil Justin
1968
Film
Dan Hawk Psychic Detective
Thaddeus Moncrief
2025
Film
Dance of the Seven Veils
1970
Film
Come the Revolution
Bruce Tetley
1977
Film
Three Clear Sundays
Nick
1965
Who Pays?
Corbett
1968
Function Room
1985
Film
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
John Ireland
1992
Film
One Bummer News Day
Frank Benyon
1978