Michael Pennington photo

Michael Pennington

Acting

  • Born
  • June 7, 1943
  • Died
  • May 10, 2026
  • Place of birth
  • Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Biography

Michael Vivian Fyfe Pennington (June 7, 1943 - May 10, 2026) was a British director and actor 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 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.

As actor 74

Silent Witness poster
Silent Witness
1996
Father Brown poster
Father Brown
2013
BBC Play of the Month poster
BBC Play of the Month
1965
Lewis poster
Lewis
2007
The Wednesday Play poster
The Wednesday Play
1964
Endeavour poster
Endeavour
2013
Waking the Dead poster
Waking the Dead
2001
ITV Playhouse poster
ITV Playhouse
1967
Playhouse poster
Playhouse
1974
Theatre 625 poster
Theatre 625
1964
Thirty-Minute Theatre poster
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965
No Hiding Place poster
No Hiding Place
1959
Dalziel and Pascoe poster
Dalziel and Pascoe
1996
Raised by Wolves poster
Raised by Wolves
2020
Between the Lines poster
Between the Lines
1992
Return of the Jedi poster
Return of the Jedi
1983
ScreenPlay poster
ScreenPlay
1986
Public Eye poster
Public Eye
1965
Freud poster
Freud
1984
BBC2 Play of the Week poster
BBC2 Play of the Week
1977
Drama 61-67
1961
Callan poster
Callan
1967
State of Play poster
State of Play
2003
The Iron Lady poster
The Iron Lady
2011
Fragile poster
Fragile
2005
W. Somerset Maugham
1969
The Escape Artist poster
The Escape Artist
2013
Dr Terrible's House of Horrible poster
Dr Terrible's House of Horrible
2001
Playing Shakespeare poster
Playing Shakespeare
1984
The Root of All Evil?
1968
No Exit
1972
In My Defence
1991
Armchair Theatre poster
Armchair Theatre
1956
Summer's Lease poster
Summer's Lease
1989
RSC Live: Richard II poster
RSC Live: Richard II
2013
Richard III poster
Richard III
1991
Danton's Death poster
Danton's Death
1978
The Tycoon
1968
Dans les secrets des films Star Wars poster
Dans les secrets des films Star Wars
2022
The Return of Sherlock Holmes poster
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
1987
Pyramid poster
Pyramid
2002
Cymbeline poster
Cymbeline
1983
The Lost World of Communism poster
The Lost World of Communism
2009
1945: The Savage Peace poster
1945: The Savage Peace
2015
Henry V poster
Henry V
1991
Hamlet poster
Hamlet
1969
Theban Plays: Oedipus the King poster
Theban Plays: Oedipus the King
1986
Waving to a Train
1984
Mad Jack poster
Mad Jack
1970
It's Only Rock 'n' Roll
1977
Florence Nightingale poster
Florence Nightingale
2008
Colosseum - Rome's Arena of Death poster
Colosseum - Rome's Arena of Death
2003
Mr and Mrs Bureaucrat poster
Mr and Mrs Bureaucrat
1978
Henry VI: House of York poster
Henry VI: House of York
1991
Cracker: White Ghost poster
Cracker: White Ghost
1996
The Last Bolshevik poster
The Last Bolshevik
1994
Forbidden Passion: The Oscar Wilde Movie poster
Forbidden Passion: The Oscar Wilde Movie
1985
Henry VI: House of Lancaster poster
Henry VI: House of Lancaster
1991
Italians poster
Italians
1984
Outside Edge poster
Outside Edge
1982
The Mayor of Montemilone poster
The Mayor of Montemilone
1984
The Dinosaur Hunters poster
The Dinosaur Hunters
2002
A Last Visitor for Mr. Hugh Peter poster
A Last Visitor for Mr. Hugh Peter
1981
The Dolly Scene
1970
The Marlowe Inquest poster
The Marlowe Inquest
1986
Henry IV: Part 1 poster
Henry IV: Part 1
1991
Degas and Pissario Fall Out poster
Degas and Pissario Fall Out
1994
Henry IV: Part 2 poster
Henry IV: Part 2
1991
Secrets of the Universe: Great Scientists in Their Own Words poster
Secrets of the Universe: Great Scientists in Their Own Words
2014
Empire Warriors poster
Empire Warriors
2004
The Witches of Pendle poster
The Witches of Pendle
1976
Airborne: The RAF at 90
2008
Richard II poster
Richard II
1991
Manik da: The Mystique of Pather Panchali poster
Manik da: The Mystique of Pather Panchali
2021