Michael Pennington, an 82-year-old British actor who starred in Return of the Jedi, passed away.
Despite being a skilled Shakespearean interpreter, Pennington’s most well-known role was perhaps that of Moff Jerjerrod, the military official in George Lucas’s 1983 science fiction masterpiece who oversaw the building of the second Death Star.
A talented performer, he costarred with Meryl Streep in the Margaret Thatcher film The Iron Lady in 2011 as former Labour Party leader Michael Foot.
The adored actor, who was born on June 7, 1943, first joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1964 following his graduation from Trinity College, Cambridge.
Ten years later, he returned to the RSC after leaving to try his hand at more modern material, such as Chekhov’s Three Sisters.
For many, his 1980 performance in Hamlet, in which he performed the title role to almost universal acclaim, marked the culmination of his second stay at the theatrical institution.
In George Lucas’ Return of the Jedi, British actor Michael Pennington plays Moff Jerjerrod, the military official in charge of supervising the construction of the second Death Star.
Michael Pennington, a British actor, performed in Nathan the Wise at the Hampstead Theatre in London in 2005.
Pennington was first considered for the lead part in 1976 by RSC director John Barton, who called him “a very fine actor… he’s the person I most want to do Hamlet with.”
Throughout his career, Pennington also performed in a number of TV and movie roles, demonstrating his remarkable versatility.
In Tony Richardson’s 1969 film rendition of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, he was chosen to play Laertes, Ophelia’s brother.
After co-starring with fellow Old Vic alumnus James Earl Jones as military bureaucrat Moff Jerjerrod in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Pennington went on to captivate a generation of science fiction enthusiasts.
The title parts in the 1986 film Oedipus Rex and the 1987 made-for-television movie The Return of Sherlock Holmes were two more noteworthy TV performances.
Pennington wrote a lot more books as well. He wrote Rossya: A Journey across Siberia in 1977 in addition to Shakespearean masterpieces including Hamlet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Twelfth Night.
In 1964, Michael Pennington wed Katharine Barker, an actress. The marriage ended in 1967, but the couple had one son.
In March of last year, his partner, Prue Skene CBE, an arts administrator, passed away.
Pennington was praised on social media by Harry Potter actress Miriam Margolyes, who called him “a very fine actor.”
“Michael Pennington passed away.” An old acquaintance from Cambridge, a superb actor, intelligent, astute, and straightforward. “Bless your dear memory,” she added. “I am so sad.” “Old friend.”
