'Star Wars' actor dies after contracting COVID in hospital

Kenneth Colley, who appeared in “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” as Admiral Piett, has died at age 87.

His agent of ten years, Julian Owen, told the BBC he died peacefully in his home on Monday after contracting COVID and developing pneumonia.

"Ken Colley was one of our finest character actors with a career spanning 60 years," Owens said in the 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."

According to the statement, Colley had been in the hospital with an injured arm after a fall, where he unfortunately caught COVID which turned into pneumonia.

Colley was known to many audiences for his role in “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” as Admiral Piett, an officer in charge of Darth Vader’s Death Star.

Among his other roles were Jesus in “Monty Python’s Life of Brian,” composer Fredric Chopin in “Lisztomania,” and a member of the brass band in “Brased Off.”

On television, he appeared in a variety of series, most recently “Midsomer Murders,” “EastEnders,” and “Peaky Blinders,” as well as reprising his role as Admiral Piett in the animated “Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out,”

Owens statement about Colley noted that he was surrounded by friends when he passed, and had “loved his garden, art collecting and had a passion for fast cars.”