Actor Michael Pennington, 82, Dies – Shakespeare Star
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- Michael Pennington died at age 82, as reported by The Telegraph.
- Michael Pennington played Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod, an Empire admiral overseeing the second Death Star’s construction, in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi.
- Michael Pennington turned down a starring role opposite Meryl Streep in Karel Reisz’s 1981 drama The French Lieutenant’s Woman to star as Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1980.
- Michael Pennington appeared in Tony Richardson’s 1969 film Hamlet and the 2011 film The Iron Lady.
- Michael Pennington had recent television credits including Raised By Wolves, Footprints, Endeavour, Father Brown, The Escape Artist, Silent Witness, and Into the Storm.
- Michael Pennington starred as Sherlock Holmes in the 1987 TV movie The Return of Sherlock Holmes and performed in the 1989 televised series The Wars of the Roses, a Shakespeare history play cycle by the English Shakespeare Company.
- Michael Pennington was born in 1943 in Cambridge, attended Trinity College, and decided to become an actor after seeing Paul Rogers play Hamlet while at Marlborough.
Why it matters: The theatre world loses a veteran Shakespeare specialist whose career choices, such as forgoing a high‑profile film role for a Royal Shakespeare Company Hamlet, underscored his commitment to the stage, leaving audiences and fellow actors without a distinguished mentor and performer.
