Michael Pennington, 'Star Wars' actor and theater star, dies at 82
The Shakespearean actor was known for his role as Moff Jerjerrod in "Star Wars" and opposite Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady."
Taijuan MoormanMichael Pennington, the British "Star Wars" actor and theater star, has reportedly died at 82.
Pennington's reps confirmed the news to the BBC on Monday, May 11. USA TODAY has reached out for confirmation.
The actor best known for his appearance as Death Star Commander Moff Jerjerrod in 1983's "Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi" has over 70 film and television credits to his name, including the 2011 biographical drama "The Iron Lady" as British politician Michael Foot, opposite Meryl Streep's Margaret Thatcher.
He got his start on screen with the BBC miniseries "The War of the Roses" in 1965. He went on to star in several British television roles before his apparent film debut, as Laertes in 1969's "Hamlet" from Oscar-winning director Tony Richardson, starring Nicol Williamson and a young Anthony Hopkins.
The noted Shakespearean would go on to cofound the English Shakespeare Company, receive an honorary associate artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company and star in several productions with Dame Judi Dench. In a 2015 interview with The Independent, Pennington said watching Dench's portrayal of Ophelia in a 1957 production of Hamlet in London inspired him to pursue his theater career.
Pennington continued his run on British television and in theater before landing a role in the third film of the original "Star Wars" trilogy as Moff Jerjerrod, the imperial officer who oversees the construction of the second Death Star.
Pennington was on stage as well as on TV into his late 70s. One of his last stage appearances was in a London production of "The Tempest" in 2017, while his last screen credit was as the voice of The Trust in Season 2 of the HBO Max sci-fi "Raised by Wolves."