What was Kenneth Colley’s cause of death? All explored as ‘Star Wars’ actor dies at 87

Star Wars veteran Kenneth Colley passed away at the age of 87.

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In a statement released by Julian Owen, who was Kenneth Colley's agent for 10 years, it has been confirmed that the English actor passed away on June 30 in Ashford, Kent.

According to the statement, he has contracted COVID, which turned into pneumonia, resulting in his death at 87 years. He had been initially admitted to the hospital for an injured arm before getting COVID. However, he passed away peacefully with his friends by his side.

The statement read, "He had been admitted after a fall with an injured arm, however he quickly contracted Covid which developed into pneumonia. He passed away peacefully with friends at his bedside."

It further continued, "Ken Colley was one of our finest character actors with a career spanning 60 years. 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."

While talking about his illustrious career, Julian stated,

"Ken's favourite part was playing Estragon in the stage production of Beckett's classic Waiting for Godot at the Cockpit Theatre in London in 2014."

"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."

As for the famed actor, he "loved his garden, art collecting and had a passion for fast cars."

Life of Kenneth Colley

Kenneth Colley was an English actor with a 60-year-long career in the industry. He made it to the international screen when he starred in Clint Eastwood's Firefox and the series War and Remembrance, however, he was most notably known for his role as Admiral Piett, an imperial official commanding Darth Vader's flagship, in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, for which he also came back in 2012 when he voiced the character for the Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out. The iconic role also led him to be invited to conventions and events all across the world.

Along with these roles, Colley also came to fame with his part in Monty Python's Life of Brian, playing the character Jesus alongside John Cleese, and Michael Palin, as well as directing the 2007 horror film Greetings, starring Kirsty Cox, Henry Dunn, and Ben Shockley.

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