Tchéky Karyo: French actor who starred in GoldenEye and The Missing dies aged 72 - what else did he star in?
French actor Tchéky Karyo has died at the age of 72 following a health battle.
The acclaimed actor died of cancer on Friday, October 31, according to his agent. Karyo is survived by his wife Valérie Keruzoré, who is also an actress, and their two children Louise and Liv.
Karyo was born in Istanbul, Turkey but moved to Paris as a young boy, growing up in the French capital. He would go on to study theatre at the Cyrano Theatre and played classical roles as a member of the Daniel Sorano company, later joining the National Theatre of Strasbourg.
He formed a strong working relationship with famed French director Luc Besson with his first appearance for the filmmaker coming in the hit film Nikita in 1990. Karyo also made the transition to Hollywood appearing in films such as Nostradamus, Bad Boys, Kiss of the Dragon, and alongside Mel Gibson in The Patriot.
He also appeared as Russian Minister of Defence Dmitri Mishkin in the 1995 James Bond flick GoldenEye.
The actor became a familiar face to UK viewers for his role in the hit BBC drama series The Missing, which aired from 2014 until 2016. Karyo portrayed French detective Julien Baptiste in the series and returns as the popular character in the spin-off series Baptiste, of which two seasons aired on the BBC in 2019 and 2021.
More recently, Karyo appeared in the 2023 Apple TV+ series Liaison, alongside Vincent Cassel and Eva Green, as well as BBC comedy thriller series Boat Story released in the same year.
Tributes have poured in from heartbroken fans. One person took to social media to say: “One of the greatest villains in cinema from the 90s-2000s, aka Tcheky Karyo. Thanks for making us love to hate you in all your roles.”
Another person said: “He played Baptiste so well. Like a modern day Colombo. RIP.” Another added: “Sorry to hear this, marvellous actor, lovely voice … condolences to his family.”