By Eric Todisco
Colley, who played Admiral Piett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, passed away peacefully on Monday at his home in Ashford, Kent, his agent Julian Owen confirmed to The Post.
鈥淜en Colley was one of our finest character actors with a career spanning 60 years,鈥 Owen said in a statement to The Post.
Owen confirmed that Colley was admitted to the hospital with an injured arm after a fall.
The British actor quickly contracted COVID which developed into pneumonia.
Colley had friends by his side when he died, Owen said.
鈥淜en continually worked on stage, film and television playing a vast array of characters, from Jesus in Monty Python鈥檚 Life of Brian to evil and eccentric characters in Ken Russell films, and the Duke of Vienna in Shakespeare鈥檚 Measure for Measure for the BBC,鈥 Owen鈥檚 statement continued.
鈥淜en鈥檚 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.鈥
Colley was born on December 7, 1937 in Manchester, Lancashire.
Early in his career, he appeared in episodes of The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Special Branch, The Sweeney and Pennies from Heaven.
In 1980, Colley joined the Star Wars franchise with his portrayal as one of Darth Vader鈥檚 Imperial officers in The Empire Strikes Back.
He reprised the role in 1983鈥檚 Return of the Jedi.
Both films starred Hollywood legends Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Billy Dee Williams and the late Carrie Fisher.
Nearly 30 years later, Colley voiced Admiral Piett in the 2012 animated TV film Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out.
Colley was also widely known for his roles in multiple Ken Russell movies and for playing Jesus in 1979鈥檚 Monty Python鈥檚 Life of Brian.
Other movies Colley appeared in included Firefox, War and Remembrance, Measure for Measure, Return to Waterloo, The Whistle Blower, The Plot to Kill Hitler and The Rainbow.
He also directed the 2007 horror movie Greetings starring Kirsty Cox, Henry Dunn and Ben Shockley.
This story first appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission.