Star Wars and Life Of Brian actor, 87, left bulk of £720,000 fortune to sister, shut pals and cats residence
Star Wars actor Kenneth Colley left the bulk of his £720,000 estate to his sister, close friends and a cats home.
He played Admiral Piett in the Star Wars films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Colley of Hythe, Kent, died last June aged 87.
He was married to Mary Dunne from 1962 until her death in 2018.
Newly released documents show he had £734,408 when he died.
This was reduced to £726,04 net.
His will showed he left most of it to his sister, charities and friends.
He left his property in Hythe to sister Michelle and £10,000 to Katherine Slater of London.
Kennneth Colley played Admiral Piett in the Star Wars films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi
He left the bulk of his £720,000 estate to his sister, close friends and a cats home
Rhodes Minnis Cat Sanctuary of Hythe was left £2,000 by the star and the Edith Cavell Fund for Nurses was gifted £20,000.
He also left £5,000 to Demelza House Children’s Hospice in Sittingbourne.
The rest of the estate was left to friend and executor Lynn Margaret Shaw also of Hythe.
Colley died peacefully at his home after contracting Covid and developing pneumonia.
At the time his agent Julian Owen said: ‘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.’
Mr Owen said Colley’s participation in Star Wars led him to being invited to conventions and fan events all over the world.
‘Ken also loved his garden, art collecting and had a passion for fast cars,’ he added.
Colley was also known for playing Jesus in Monty Python’s Life of Brian alongside John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Michael Palin
He was most famous for his role as Admiral Piett, an imperial officer in command of Darth Vader’s flagship
Colleyplayed Horatio Viscount Nelson in TV series I Remember Nelson
Colley was also known for playing Jesus in Monty Python’s Life of Brian alongside John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Michael Palin.
In recent years, he had stints on Holby City to Peaky Blinders, and appeared on two episodes of a Doctor Who special.
But he was most famous for his role as Admiral Piett, an imperial officer in command of Darth Vader’s flagship.
According to Colley, the character of Piett was not originally slated to appear in Return of the Jedi, but George Lucas added him because Lucasfilm had received ‘a lot of fan mail’ about the character.
The Manchester-born actor enjoyed living in Kent and according to actor and director Terry Gilliam, he had a stammer in real life.
When he was acting in films, Colley was able to recite lines perfectly. Stuttering was a character trait for his role as the Accordian Man in BBC TV drama Pennies from Heaven.
