Kenneth Colley, Star Wars actor, dies at 87

The British actor was best known for playing Admiral Piett in the original “Star Wars” series.

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'Kenneth Colley, the British actor known for his role as Admiral Firmus Piett in the original Star Wars trilogy, died on Monday. He was 87.

Colley’s agent, Julian Owens, confirmed the actor’s death to Entertainment Weekly on Thursday, sharing that the actor died peacefully at his home on June 30 with friends at his bedside in Ashford, Kent. Colley had been admitted to a hospital with an injured arm after a fall, but he quickly contracted Covid, which developed into pneumonia.

“Ken Colley was one of our finest character actors with a career spanning 60 years,” Owens said in an emailed statement. “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’s favorite part was Estragon in the 2014 production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot at the Cockpit Theatre in London, the statement added.

Owens also shared a tribute in honor of Colley from the Alliance Agents Facebook page.

“Ken loved attending conventions and meeting the fans,” the tribute reads, in part. “He travelled all over the World yet could never quite grasp why everyone wanted his autograph. He was a very humble man with an incredibly dry wit.”

It continued, “Ken loved his garden, art, cars and the occasional Porn Star Martini. His wife Mary died several years ago, since then he has been looked after by his friend Lynn. Ken lived in Hythe in Kent.”

Concluding the tribute, Owens wrote, “It has been a pleasure representing Ken over the years. He wasn’t just a client, but also a friend.”’

Edit: Kenneth Colley obituary (from The Guardian)