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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.


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Born:
Dec 7, 1937 In Manchester, England
Movie/TV Credits:
57
First Appeared:
In the movie Seventy Deadly Pills 1963-01-01
Latest Project:
Movie Scar Tissue 2013-09-12
Known For
Filmography
Movie Scar Tissue Weaver 2013-09-12
Movie LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out Admiral Piett (voice) 2012-09-24
Series The Queen 2009-11-29
Movie Greetings Ken 2007-10-23
Movie Like Father Like Son Rawsthorne 2005-01-24
Movie Hold Back the Night Uncle Bob 1999-06-10
Movie Shadow Run Larcombe 1998-01-01
Movie Robert Rylands' Last Journey Archdale 1996-10-18
Movie Brassed Off Greasley 1996-11-01
Movie Solomon & Sheba Nathan 1995-02-26
Movie Unnatural Causes Inspector Gerry Reckless 1993-01-02
Movie La Vie de Bohème Street Sweeper 1992-02-27
Movie The Secret Life of Arnold Bax John Ireland 1992-11-22
Movie Prisoner of Honor Capt. Dreyfus 1991-11-02
Movie The Plot to Kill Hitler Wilhelm Keitel 1990-01-30
Movie The Last Island Nick 1990-11-16
Movie Kremlin Farewell Sergej 1990-04-01
Movie I Hired a Contract Killer The Killer 1990-10-12
Movie A Master of the Marionettes Inspector Tennyson 1989-04-18
Movie The Rainbow Mr. Brunt 1989-05-05
Movie A Summer Story Jim 1988-08-11
Movie Casanova Le Duc 1987-03-01
Series John Silver's Return to Treasure Island Ben Gunn 1986-04-05
Movie The Whistle Blower Bill Pickett 1986-11-21
Movie Wallenberg: A Hero's Story Adolph Eichmann 1985-04-07
Series Mussolini: The Untold Story King Vittorio Emmanuele 1985-11-24
Movie Return to Waterloo The Traveller 1984-11-01
Movie The Scarlet and the Black Capt. Hirsch 1983-02-02
Movie Return of the Jedi Admiral Piett 1983-05-25
Movie Firefox Colonel Kontarsky 1982-06-18
Movie I Remember Nelson Vice-Adm. Horatio Viscount Nelson 1982-04-14
Movie Giro City Martin 1982-11-01
Series Peter and Paul Theodotus 1981-04-12
Movie The Empire Strikes Back Admiral Piett 1980-05-20
Movie Measure for Measure Duke Vincentio 1979-02-18
Movie Life of Brian Jesus 1979-08-17
Movie Les Misérables Police Prefect 1978-12-27
Series Pennies from Heaven The Accordion Man 1978-03-07
Movie One Bummer News Day Frank Benyon 1978-12-12
Movie Jabberwocky 1st Fanatic 1977-03-28
Movie Come the Revolution Bruce Tetley 1977-10-25
Movie Flame Tony Devlin 1975-02-13
Movie Lisztomania Frederic Chopin 1975-10-10
Movie Mahler Krenek 1974-04-04
Movie Juggernaut Detective Brown 1974-09-25
Movie Hitler: The Last Ten Days Boldt 1973-04-19
Movie The Triple Echo Provo Corporal 1972-11-16
Movie The Devils Legrand 1971-07-16
Movie The Music Lovers Modeste Tchaikovsky 1971-02-12
Movie The Boy Friend King in fantasy sequence (uncredited) 1971-12-16
Movie Dance of the Seven Veils 1970-02-15
Movie Performance Tony Farrell (as Ken Colley) 1970-08-03
Movie The Blood Beast Terror James 1968-02-01
Movie How I Won the War 2nd Replacement 1967-10-18
Movie The Jokers De Winter 1967-05-15
Movie Three Clear Sundays Nick 1965-04-07
Movie Seventy Deadly Pills Covent Garden porter 1963-01-01