Kenneth Colley
Kenneth Colley (born 7 December 1937) is 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 The Life of Brian, having also appeared in the earlier Monty 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 in 1979.
Colley also held an important role in the Clint Eastwood movie Firefox, where he played a Soviet Colonel tasked with the protection of the Firefox and its secrets.
Colley went on to play 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 1978 BBC television drama, Pennies from Heaven. He has also recently starred in BBC's HolbyBlue as a drunk and violent father, grandfather and father-in-law.
He currently lives at Hythe in Kent.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Kenneth Colley, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Acted in
Scar Tissue
2013
as Weaver
Peaky Blinders
2013
as Vicente Changretta
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
2012
as Admiral Piett (voice)
Vera
2011
as Ronald Devreux
The Queen
2009
Misfits
2009
as Old Rudy
Greetings
2007
as Ken
Like Father Like Son
2005
as Rawsthorne
New Tricks
2004
The Royal
2003
as Bernard Hussey
Foyle's War
2002
Relic Hunter
1999
as Professor Lamenza
Hold Back the Night
1999
as Uncle Bob
The Last Train
1999
The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
1998
as Archie Burlington
Shadow Run
1998
as Larcombe
Midsomer Murders
1997
as Lloyd Kirby
Brassed Off
1996
as Greasley
Robert Rylands' Last Journey
1996
as Archdale
Solomon & Sheba
1995
as Nathan
Wycliffe
1994
as Sam Peploe
Peak Practice
1993
as Stan Jordan
Unnatural Causes
1993
as Inspector Gerry Reckless
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
1992
as John Ireland
Between the Lines
1992
as Chief Supt. Tattersall
Heartbeat
1992
as Clive Harris
La Vie de Bohème
1992
as Street Sweeper
Prisoner of Honor
1991
as Capt. Dreyfus
The Last Island
1990
as Nick
I Hired a Contract Killer
1990
as The Killer
Kremlin Farewell
1990
as Sergej
The Plot to Kill Hitler
1990
as Wilhelm Keitel
The Rainbow
1989
as Mr. Brunt
A Master of the Marionettes
1989
as Inspector Tennyson
Agatha Christie's Poirot
1989
as Mathew Davenheim
A Summer Story
1988
as Jim
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
1988
as Chief Inspector Heat
Casanova
1987
as Le Duc
Inspector Morse
1987
as DCI Patrick Dawson
The Whistle Blower
1986
as Bill Pickett
Casualty
1986
as Paddy
Casualty
1986
as Clifford Watkins
Casualty
1986
as Arthur Cobb
John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
1986
as Ben Gunn
Mussolini: The Untold Story
1985
as King Vittorio Emmanuele
Wallenberg: A Hero's Story
1985
as Adolf Eichmann
Wallenberg: A Hero's Story
1985
as Adolph Eichmann
Return to Waterloo
1984
as The Traveller
Return of the Jedi
1983
as Admiral Piett
The Scarlet and the Black
1983
as Capt. Hirsch
Giro City
1982
as Martin
Firefox
1982
as Colonel Kontarsky
I Remember Nelson
1982
as Vice-Adm. Horatio Viscount Nelson
I Remember Nelson
1982
as ice-Adm. Horatio Viscount Nelson
The Kenny Everett Television Show
1982
as Self
Peter and Paul
1981
as Theodotus
The Empire Strikes Back
1980
as Admiral Piett
Minder
1979
as Ron
Life of Brian
1979
as Jesus
The Danedyke Mystery
1979
as The Major
Measure for Measure
1979
as Duke Vincentio
Les Misérables
1978
as Police Prefect
One Bummer News Day
1978
as Frank Benyon
BBC Television Shakespeare
1978
Pennies from Heaven
1978
as The Accordion Man
Hazell
1978
Come the Revolution
1977
as Bruce Tetley
The Testing of Eric Olthwaite
1977
as Robber
Jabberwocky
1977
as 1st Fanatic
Ripping Yarns
1976
as Robber
Lisztomania
1975
as Frederic Chopin
Flame
1975
as Tony Devlin
The Love School
1975
as Edward Burne-Jones
The Sweeney
1975
as Noah Riley
Juggernaut
1974
as Detective Brown
Mahler
1974
as Krenek
Fall of Eagles
1974
as Father Gapon
Hitler: The Last Ten Days
1973
as Boldt
The Triple Echo
1972
as Provo Corporal
Crown Court
1972
as Stanley Meredith
The Protectors
1972
as Devlin
The Boy Friend
1971
as King in fantasy sequence (uncredited)
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
1971
as Farrish
The Devils
1971
as Legrand
The Music Lovers
1971
as Modeste Tchaikovsky
Play for Today
1970
as Bruce Tetley
Play for Today
1970
as Frank Benyon
Performance
1970
as Tony Farrell (as Ken Colley)
Dance of the Seven Veils
1970
Dear Mother... ...Love Albert
1969
Judge Dee
1969
The Expert
1968
as Foreman
The Expert
1968
as Munt
The Blood Beast Terror
1968
as James
Who Pays?
1968
as Corbett
How I Won the War
1967
as 2nd Replacement
The Jokers
1967
as De Winter
Three Clear Sundays
1965
as Nick
The Wednesday Play
1964
as Bethold Florenberg
Seventy Deadly Pills
1963
as Covent Garden porter
A for Andromeda
1961
as Dead Body (uncredited)
The Avengers
1961
No Hiding Place
1959