Michael Pennington
Known for: Actor
Born: 7 June 1943, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
Died: 10 May 2026
Credits: 60+ titles
Michael Vivian Fyfe Pennington (June 7, 1943 - May 10, 2026) was a British actor and director who, together with director Michael Bogdanov, founded the English Shakespeare Company. Although primarily a stage actor, he is best known to wider audiences for his role as Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod, commanding officer of the Death Star in the film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and as Michael Foot in The Iron Lady, opposite Meryl Streep.
Filmography
Manik da: The Mystique of Pather Panchali
Raised by Wolves
1945: The Savage Peace
Secrets of the Universe: Great Scientists in Their Own Words
RSC Live: Richard II
The Escape Artist
Endeavour
Father Brown
The Iron Lady
The Lost World of Communism
Airborne: The RAF at 90
Florence Nightingale
Lewis
Fragile
Empire Warriors
Colosseum - Rome's Arena of Death
State of Play
The Dinosaur Hunters
Pyramid
Dr Terrible's House of Horrible
Waking the Dead
Cracker: White Ghost
Dalziel and Pascoe
Silent Witness
Degas and Pissario Fall Out
Between the Lines
In My Defence
Richard III
Henry VI: House of Lancaster
Henry VI: House of York
Henry V
Henry IV: Part 2
Henry IV: Part 1
Richard II
Summer's Lease
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Theban Plays: Oedipus the King
The Marlowe Inquest
ScreenPlay
Forbidden Passion: The Oscar Wilde Movie
The Mayor of Montemilone
Italians
Freud
Playing Shakespeare
Waving to a Train
Cymbeline
Return of the Jedi
Outside Edge
A Last Visitor for Mr. Hugh Peter
Danton's Death
Mr and Mrs Bureaucrat
BBC2 Play of the Week
It's Only Rock 'n' Roll
The Witches of Pendle
Playhouse
No Exit
The Dolly Scene
Mad Jack
Hamlet
W. Somerset Maugham