In the original Star Wars trilogy, only one Imperial officer had the cunning and savvy to survive more than one film. That’s Admiral Piett, played by actor Kenneth Colley. Colley passed away this week at the age of 87, and as a tribute to the fantastic actor, we thought we’d pay tribute to his most iconic role.
The whole point of the Empire is faceless brutality. Stormtroopers all dress alike. Darth Vader has a mask. Only a select few see the Emperor, and even he’s disfigured with an expansive hood. There is no real humanity to it. You only get a little from the Imperial officers, and of all the officers, it’s Admiral Piett who is the most memorable. Part of that is because, as we said, he survives two films, but also it’s because of the layered, brilliant performance Colley gives in each of his crucial scenes.
We first meet Piett in The Empire Strikes Back. He’s a captain, working alongside Darth Vader and Admiral Ozzel. It’s Piett that alerts Ozzel, then Vader, about a mysterious ping from a probe droid in the Hoth system. The Hoth system shouldn’t have pinged back, but he has this feeling. It’s immediate proof of his natural instincts because, of course, he’s right. That’s where the Rebels are. Ozzel, however, isn’t pleased to be shown up by his captain—and, well, that wouldn’t be the last time.
Ozzel then makes a fatal mistake when he lets the Imperial fleet exit hyperspace too close to the Hoth system, so Vader kills him and promotes Piett to admiral. Piett takes the promotion with some surprise and grace, fully realizing officers like himself are disposable to someone as evil as Vader. And yet even in those few, short moments, while you know every single thing Piett stands for and believes in is awful, you feel kind of happy for him. You shouldn’t, but you do.
Watching these scenes back, you almost forget just how crucial Piett is in this film. He’s in almost every single big Empire moment. Case in point, we next see Piett in Vader’s chambers, where he—and the audience—first see the hints of his past as Anakin Skywalker. He’s taken aback by the revelation but remains incredibly professional and doesn’t say a word. He’s loyal, but he’s also human. That’s why, even though he knows going into an asteroid field to chase the Millennium Falcon is a bad idea, he does it anyway, because it’s what Lord Vader commands him to do.
None of these scenes would be as memorable without Colley’s performance as Piett making them so. Another example is when he alerts Vader to the fact the Emperor is trying to make contact in the asteroid field. He enters the space by almost skipping, anxious and excited to deliver the message. But then, he becomes visibly scared mentioning the Emperor to Vader. At this point, we haven’t seen the Emperor, but we have witnessed Piett’s reaction to him, and we already are fearful.
But there’s also disdain there. Maybe Piett’s most famous line is his next one, “Bounty hunters, we don’t need their scum.” Vader has brought in several bounty hunters—such as soon-to-be icons Boba Fett, Bossk, and Zuckuss, to name a few—to help find the Falcon, but before we see them, we know how everyone feels about them thanks to the perfect, dismissive tone of Piett.
However, we also learn so much about the Empire because of him too. When Piett and his ship lose the Millennium Falcon again, Vader gives him a final warning, just like he did to Ozzel. The gulp Piett gives, knowing that he is dead if he fails Vader again, is both pathetic and relatable. It’s simply a beautiful, subtle moment.
Piett is in more of The Empire Strikes Back than you imagine and makes a very big impression. That’s partially why George Lucas brought him back for Return of the Jedi, making Imperial on-screen history as the only one to ever return. It’s a smaller role this time around, but one that features an incredibly crucial moment. It’s Admiral Piett who makes the, basically, Empire-ending decision to clear Tydirium, which housed Han Solo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, and others, to the forest moon of Endor. He doesn’t make the ultimate decision, of course; that was Vader, but he was right there at the center of the moment the Empire, at least in this iteration, began its fall. And his ability to delegate such a moment showed why he was still around when so many of his colleagues were not.
Finally, after almost bragging to his crew about special plans he got from the Emperor himself, Piett meets his end when a Rebel A-Wing crashes into his Star Destroyer during the battle of Endor. However, it’s impossible to ignore that he has had so much longevity. So much impact. So much charisma.
Admiral Piett was the face of the Empire. Maybe he wasn’t a Sith lord, but he stood beside Sith lords and held his own till the end. Did he deserve his fate in the films? Of course. The Empire was trash. But actor Kenneth Colley gave him a humanity that helped make maybe the greatest trilogy ever that great. Now gone, he will forever be remembered as one of the most memorable, crucial, and nuanced supporting Star Wars characters in history. He’ll last forever.
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