Dan Hawk Psychic Detective
2025 · Movie
as Thaddeus Moncrief
Kenneth Colley
1937-12-07
•
Manchester, England, UK
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
The Institute
2025 · TV Show
as Gate Guard #5
Scar Tissue
2013 · Movie
as Weaver
Peaky Blinders
2013 · TV Show
as Vicente Changretta
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
2012 · Movie
as Admiral Piett (voice)
Vera
2011 · TV Show
as Ronald Devreux
The Queen
2009 · TV Show
Misfits
2009 · TV Show
as Old Rudy
Greetings
2007 · Movie
as Ken
Like Father Like Son
2005 · Movie
as Rawsthorne
New Tricks
2004 · TV Show
The Royal
2003 · TV Show
as Bernard Hussey
Foyle's War
2002 · TV Show
as Brian Jones
No image
Hold Back the Night
1999 · Movie
as Uncle Bob
The Last Train
1999 · TV Show
Relic Hunter
1999 · TV Show
as Professor Lamenza
Always and Everyone
1999 · TV Show
as Joseph
Shadow Run
1998 · Movie
as Larcombe
The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
1998 · TV Show
as Archie Burlington
Midsomer Murders
1997 · TV Show
as Lloyd Kirby
Brassed Off
1996 · Movie
as Greasley
Robert Rylands' Last Journey
1996 · Movie
as Archdale
Solomon & Sheba
1995 · Movie
as Nathan
Wycliffe
1994 · TV Show
as Sam Peploe
Unnatural Causes
1993 · Movie
as Inspector Gerry Reckless
Peak Practice
1993 · TV Show
as Stan Jordan
La Vie de Bohème
1992 · Movie
as Street Sweeper
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
1992 · Movie
as John Ireland
Heartbeat
1992 · TV Show
as Clive Harris
Between the Lines
1992 · TV Show
as Chief Supt. Tattersall
Prisoner of Honor
1991 · Movie
as Capt. Dreyfus
I Hired a Contract Killer
1990 · Movie
as The Killer
Kremlin Farewell
1990 · Movie
as Sergej
The Plot to Kill Hitler
1990 · Movie
as Wilhelm Keitel
The Last Island
1990 · Movie
as Nick
A Master of the Marionettes
1989 · Movie
as Inspector Tennyson
The Rainbow
1989 · Movie
as Mr. Brunt
Agatha Christie's Poirot
1989 · TV Show
as Mathew Davenheim
A Summer Story
1988 · Movie
as Jim
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
1988 · TV Show
as Chief Inspector Heat
War and Remembrance
1988 · TV Show
as Paul Blobel
The Play on One
1988 · TV Show
as DI Tennyson
Casanova
1987 · Movie
as Le Duc
Inspector Morse
1987 · TV Show
as DCI Patrick Dawson
The Whistle Blower
1986 · Movie
as Bill Pickett
John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
1986 · TV Show
as Ben Gunn
Casualty
1986 · TV Show
as Paddy, Clifford Watkins, Arthur Cobb
Mussolini: The Untold Story
1985 · TV Show
as King Vittorio Emmanuele
Wallenberg: A Hero's Story
1985 · TV Show
as Adolf Eichmann
Screen Two
1985 · TV Show
as Sergej
No image
Function Room
1985 · TV Show
Return to Waterloo
1984 · Movie
as The Traveller
The Scarlet and the Black
1983 · Movie
as Capt. Hirsch
Return of the Jedi
1983 · Movie
as Admiral Piett
Firefox
1982 · Movie
as Colonel Kontarsky
Giro City
1982 · Movie
as Martin
I Remember Nelson
1982 · Movie
as Vice-Adm. Horatio Viscount Nelson
The Kenny Everett Television Show
1982 · TV Show
as Self
No image
I Remember Nelson
1982 · TV Show
as ice-Adm. Horatio Viscount Nelson
Peter and Paul
1981 · TV Show
as Theodotus
The Empire Strikes Back
1980 · Movie
as Admiral Piett
Life of Brian
1979 · Movie
as Jesus
The Danedyke Mystery
1979 · Movie
as The Major
Measure for Measure
1979 · Movie
as Duke Vincentio
Minder
1979 · TV Show
as Ron
Les Misérables
1978 · Movie
as Police Prefect
One Bummer News Day
1978 · Movie
as Frank Benyon
Pennies from Heaven
1978 · TV Show
as The Accordion Man
The BBC Television Shakespeare
1978 · TV Show
as Duke Vincentio
Jabberwocky
1977 · Movie
as 1st Fanatic
The Testing of Eric Olthwaite
1977 · Movie
as Robber
Come the Revolution
1977 · Movie
as Bruce Tetley
Target
1977 · TV Show
as Jessal
No image
Three Days in Szczecin
1976 · Movie
as Edmund Bałuka
The Chester Mystery Plays
1976 · Movie
Ripping Yarns
1976 · TV Show
as Robber
Dickens of London
1976 · TV Show
as Robert Seymour
Lisztomania
1975 · Movie
as Frederic Chopin
Flame
1975 · Movie
as Tony Devlin
The Sweeney
1975 · TV Show
as Noah Riley
The Love School
1975 · TV Show
as Edward Burne-Jones
Juggernaut
1974 · Movie
as Detective Brown
Mahler
1974 · Movie
as Krenek
Fall of Eagles
1974 · TV Show
as Father Gapon
Churchill's People
1974 · TV Show
as Ancient Beau
Hitler: The Last Ten Days
1973 · Movie
as Boldt
No image
Black and Blue
1973 · TV Show
as Schultz
The Triple Echo
1972 · Movie
as Provo Corporal
Crown Court
1972 · TV Show
as Stanley Meredith
The Protectors
1972 · TV Show
as Devlin
New Scotland Yard
1972 · TV Show
as Peter Elliot
The Music Lovers
1971 · Movie
as Modeste Tchaikovsky
The Boy Friend
1971 · Movie
as King in fantasy sequence (uncredited)
The Devils
1971 · Movie
as Legrand
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
1971 · TV Show
as Farrish
Dance of the Seven Veils
1970 · Movie
Performance.
1970 · Movie
as Tony Farrell
Play for Today
1970 · TV Show
as Bruce Tetley, Frank Benyon
Judge Dee
1969 · TV Show
Dear Mother... ...Love Albert
1969 · TV Show
The Blood Beast Terror
1968 · Movie
as James
No image
Who Pays?
1968 · Movie
as Corbett
No image
Cause of Death
1968 · Movie
as Dr. Emil Justin
The Expert
1968 · TV Show
as Foreman, Munt
The Jokers
1967 · Movie
as De Winter
How I Won the War
1967 · Movie
as 2nd Replacement
Omnibus
1967 · TV Show
as Hitler
No image
City '68
1967 · TV Show
as Corbett
No image
Macbeth
1966 · Movie
as Macbeth's servant
The Informer
1966 · TV Show
as Slater
Three Clear Sundays
1965 · Movie
as Nick
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965 · TV Show
as Paddy, Dr. Emil Justin, Adolf Hitler, Charles I
BBC Play of the Month
1965 · TV Show
as Yolinichev
The Wednesday Play
1964 · TV Show
as Bethold Florenberg
It's Dark Outside
1964 · TV Show
as Hammond
Redcap
1964 · TV Show
as Private Bolt
Seventy Deadly Pills
1963 · Movie
as Covent Garden porter
The Avengers
1961 · TV Show
No Hiding Place
1959 · TV Show
Armchair Theatre
1956 · TV Show
as Jimmy
