'Star Wars' actor Kenneth Colley passes away at age 87

Kenneth Colley died on Sunday after contracting COVID and developing pneumonia. He was 87.

His death was confirmed by his agent Admiral Piett on Thursday, who revealed that the actor died in his home in Kent after contracting COVID and subsequently developing pneumonia.

Colley contracted COVID during hospitalisation after he had sustained an arm injury from a fall. The actor "passed away peacefully with friends at his bedside," Owen revealed in his statement.

"Ken Colley was one of our finest character actors with a career spanning 60 years," Owen added at another point in his 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 was widely recognised as Star Wars character Admiral Piett, who appears alongside Darth Vader in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi.

"Ken's participation in Star Wars led him to being invited to conventions and official fan events all over the world, where he remains one of the best-loved actors from the original trilogy. Ken loved his garden, art collecting, and had a passion for fast cars," his agent added.

He also appeared in Firefox (1982), War and Remembrance (1988), Brassed Off (1997), and Holding On (1999) among others.

Most recently, Colley appeared in a 2024 movie titled Dan Hawk Psychic Detective and lent his voice to a short film titled I am Tree in 2023.