Michael Pennington

Born: 1943-06-07, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Died: 2026-05-10

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.

Filmography

• Father Brown (2013)
• Silent Witness (1996)
• Lewis (2007)
• Waking the Dead (2001)
• The Wednesday Play (1964)
• Endeavour (2013)
• Thirty-Minute Theatre (1965)
• Raised by Wolves (2020)
• Playhouse (1974)
• Theatre 625 (1964)
• Dalziel and Pascoe (1996)
• Between the Lines (1992)
• ScreenPlay (1986)
• Return of the Jedi (1983)
• Freud (1984)
• Public Eye (1965)
• The Iron Lady (2011)
• Summer's Lease (1989)
• RSC Live: Richard II (2013)
• Pyramid (2002)
• Theban Plays: Oedipus the King (1986)
• Colosseum - Rome's Arena of Death (2003)
• Cracker: White Ghost (1996)
• The Savage Peace (2015)
• Henry VI: House of York (1991)
• Danton's Death (1978)
• Henry VI: House of Lancaster (1991)
• The Witches of Pendle (1976)
• Outside Edge (1982)
• Mr and Mrs Bureaucrat (1978)