British actor Kenneth Colley, 87, died of Covid on June 30 (yes, Covid is still a thing!). All the obits are trumpeting him as Admiral Piett in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, but I remember him best as the Accordion Man in Pennies from Heaven, and as Prince Philip in The Queen. Colley collabrotated a lot with Ken Russell, appearing in his Lisztomania, The Music Lovers, The Devils, Mahler, The Rainbow, and others. Colley recalled of his early career, “My drama school was the street. They threw you on stage in small parts so they didn't have to pay an actor. It's the traditional way, before drama schools came into being, so it's a long tradition.” Besides his stage work, Colley was seen in The Avengers, Coronation Street, Oh! What a Lovely War, Crown Court, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, War and Remembrance, The Plot to Kill Hitler, EastEnders, Casualty, Peaky Blinders, and Holby City. He told Scott Chernoff of his playing so many villains, “It's fine by me, because villains are more fun to play, they're the ones you latch onto. The only thing that frustrates me is if they're portrayed as ciphers – cardboard cut-outs. If you can burrow in deep and find some life there . . . that makes it interesting.”
