{"id":1928444,"date":"2026-05-10T19:34:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T16:34:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1928444"},"modified":"2026-05-10T19:34:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T16:34:37","slug":"star-wars-return-of-the-jedi-actor-michael-pennington-dead-at-82","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1928444","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Star Wars: Return of the Jedi&#8217; Actor Michael Pennington Dead at 82"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/imagez.tmz.com\/image\/83\/16by9\/2026\/05\/10\/835cb91de2094dc9be6e9216694f26bf_xl.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"article article--permalink \">\n<header class=\"article__header\">\n<h1 class=\"article__header--headline-title\">&#8216;Star Wars: Return of the Jedi&#8217; Actor Michael Pennington Dead at 82<\/h1>\n<h2 class=\"article__header--headline-fragments\"><span class=\"article__header--hf1 text-uppercase h3\">Michael Pennington<\/span><span class=\"article__header--hf2 text-uppercase h1\">&#8216;Star Wars: Return of the Jedi&#8217; Actor Dead at 82<\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"social-media-container\" role=\"region\">\n<ul class=\"social social--sm\">\n<li class=\"social-item\">\n<li class=\"social-item\">\n<li class=\"social-item\"><\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tmz.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"js-track-link\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"google-preferred-btn\" src=\"https:\/\/static.tmz.com\/tmz-web\/img\/article\/google-preferred-source.png\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"byline\">By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/pages\/about\/\">TMZ Staff<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"date-wrapper\">\n                                                                        Published <time class=\"published-datetime\" datetime=\"2026-05-10T12:34:37-07:00\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/sitemaps\/article\/202605\"><br \/>\n                May 10, 2026<br \/>\n                <\/a><br \/>\n                            12:34 PM PDT<\/time><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article__blocks clearfix\">\n<section id=\"cb-64b1e5bc12aac5d05c12124359bc8897\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-image-block canvas-image-block-permalink canvas-image-block--default  canvas-block-is-first \">\n<div class=\"image-block\"><a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_jpg_20260510_835cb91de2094dc9be6e9216694f26bf\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:02b3c92f-a279-4f6f-aae4-964168f10791\" data-context='{\"section\":\"permalink\",\"name\":\"image\"}'><\/p>\n<div class=\"img-wrapper\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/imagez.tmz.com\/image\/83\/4by3\/2026\/05\/10\/835cb91de2094dc9be6e9216694f26bf_md.jpg\" alt=\"Michael Pennington getty 2\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"image-block__card-footer\"><span class=\"media-credit image-block__media-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-f937f233808a74bb46f3332759ee9ed5\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default  \" data-context='{\"section\":\"permalink\",\"name\":\"text_block\"}'>\n<p><strong>Michael Pennington<\/strong>, who played Death Star Commander Moff Jerjerrod in &#8220;Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi&#8221; has died.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-a437e16b47331a263e4c06ea30abe5b6\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default  \" data-context='{\"section\":\"permalink\",\"name\":\"text_block\"}'>\n<p>The acclaimed actor passed away Sunday, according to a report from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/obituaries\/2026\/05\/10\/michael-pennington-english-shakespeare-company-old-vic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The Telegraph<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-e8ce7bc17db36831b9e6f04f0954d110\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-image-block canvas-image-block-permalink canvas-image-block--default  \">\n<div class=\"image-block\"><a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_jpg_20260510_8cab1c6064544a128a9256f4cbf33a7b\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:02b3c92f-a279-4f6f-aae4-964168f10791\" data-context='{\"section\":\"permalink\",\"name\":\"image\"}'><\/p>\n<div class=\"img-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imagez.tmz.com\/image\/8c\/4by3\/2026\/05\/10\/8cab1c6064544a128a9256f4cbf33a7b_md.jpg\" alt=\"Michael Pennington 1999 getty 1\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"image-block__card-footer\"><span class=\"media-credit image-block__media-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-fff31887bebe21ba755d982a004e7492\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default  \" data-context='{\"section\":\"permalink\",\"name\":\"text_block\"}'>\n<p>Michael was born on June 7, 1943, in Cambridge, England and began his on-screen career back in 1965 with a supporting part in the BBC miniseries &#8220;The War of the Roses.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-2abe5131524b060f3b86bd1240cd4313\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default  \" data-context='{\"section\":\"permalink\",\"name\":\"text_block\"}'>\n<p>He married actress <strong>Katharine Barker<\/strong> in 1964, and the couple welcomed their son, <strong>Mark<\/strong>, before ultimately divorcing in 1967.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-875dd0f78cd42460ec07abefea04ec01\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default  \" data-context='{\"section\":\"permalink\",\"name\":\"text_block\"}'>\n<p>In one &#8216;Return of the Jedi&#8217; scene, Darth Vader threatens Commander Jerjerrod over the slow construction of the Death Star II &#8230; and Michael&#8217;s character assures him they&#8217;ll work harder to get it done &#8212; leaving a heartfelt memory for fans to forever hold on to.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-3c9d1f6f24fdc712bb314de0375edb85\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default  \" data-context='{\"section\":\"permalink\",\"name\":\"text_block\"}'>\n<p>Michael was 82.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"cb-5952bcce218791c4e1a1c3dc2322aaa4\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default  canvas-block-is-last \" data-context='{\"section\":\"permalink\",\"name\":\"text_block\"}'>\n<p>RIP<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<ul class=\"social social--permalink\">\n<li class=\"social__item social__item--3items\"><a class=\"btn social__btn social__btn--facebook js-track-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/05\/10\/michael-pennington-dead\/\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:article:02b3c92f-a279-4f6f-aae4-964168f10791\" data-context='{\"section\":\"main\",\"name\":\"facebook-footer\",\"pos\":1}'><br \/>\n                Share<span class=\"social__hide-sm\"> on Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"social__item social__item--3items\"><a class=\"btn social__btn social__btn--x js-track-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/05\/10\/michael-pennington-dead\/\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:article:02b3c92f-a279-4f6f-aae4-964168f10791\" data-context='{\"section\":\"main\",\"name\":\"twitter-footer\",\"pos\":2}'><br \/>\n                Share<span class=\"social__hide-sm\"> on 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12:34 PM PDT Getty Michael Pennington, who played Death Star Commander Moff Jerjerrod in &#8220;Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi&#8221; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,77],"class_list":["post-1928444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tmz-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1928444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1928444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1928444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1928444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}