A crucial member of the Star Wars canon died on Monday after a career long admired by fans of the famous franchise. Kenneth Colley, an English actor who played Admiral Piett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, passed away after contracting COVID and subsequently pneumonia. A statement issued by Julian Owen, his agent of 10 years, stated that Colley “passed away peacefully with friends at his bedside.” Colley rose to fame for his portrayal of Piett, an imperial commander who was Darth Vader’s right-hand man. In the films, Piett is the first character to see Vader without his ominous helmet on, and carries out the villain’s orders throughout the second and third movies of the original trilogy. When Colley was auditioning for the role of Piett in Empire Strikes Back, director Irvin Kershner told him that he was looking for someone “that would frighten Adolf Hitler.” After the audition was over, Kershner told Colley, “Yes, I think you’re it.” Outside of Star Wars, Colley continued to star on the silver screen and in theatrical productions, appearing in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, Firefox, and (of course) Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out.
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