Michael Byrne (actor)
Encyclopedia
Michael Byrne is an English
actor noted for his roles on film
and television
. He has often been cast in Nazi military roles such as Colonel Vogel in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
and Obergruppenführer Odilo Globocnik
in the BBC radio dramatisation of the novel Fatherland
by Robert Harris
. Byrne appeared as a Jewish concentration camp survivor who is instrumental in the capture of a Nazi war criminal (played by Ian McKellen
) in the film Apt Pupil
. He is also familiar to audiences as Smythe, a soldier who attempts to rape William Wallace's wife and first inspires Wallace to seek independence from England in the film Braveheart
.
His film credits include: Vampyres
, The Eagle Has Landed
, Butley
,
A Bridge Too Far, The Medusa Touch
, Force 10 from Navarone, Proof of Life
, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
, Braveheart
, The Saint
, Tomorrow Never Dies
, The Good Father
,
The Sum of All Fears
, Gangs of New York
, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Sharpe's Company, Sharpe's Honour and Sharpe's Enemy.
TV credits include: Z-Cars
; Secret Army
; Tales of the Unexpected
; The Professionals
; Smiley's People
; Yes, Prime Minister; Between The Lines; Sharpe
; The Mists of Avalon;
Waking the Dead
and Honest
.
From April 2008 to January 2010 Michael starred in Coronation Street
, as Gail Platt
's long lost father, and the ex-lover of Audrey Roberts, Ted Paige. It is not known whether or not he will return to the show in the future.
Michael appeared in State of Play at Edinburgh festival written by Zia Trench.
He appeared as Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
.
Michael played Romeo to Siân Phillips' Juliet at The Bristol Old Vic.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor noted for his roles on film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. He has often been cast in Nazi military roles such as Colonel Vogel in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third film in the Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford reprises the title role and Sean Connery plays Indiana's father, Henry...
and Obergruppenführer Odilo Globocnik
Odilo Globocnik
Odilo Lotario Globocnik was a prominent Austrian Nazi and later an SS leader. He was an acquaintance of Adolf Eichmann, who played a major role in the extermination of Jews and others during the Holocaust...
in the BBC radio dramatisation of the novel Fatherland
Fatherland (novel)
Fatherland is a bestselling 1992 thriller by the English writer and journalist Robert Harris. It takes the form of a high concept alternative history set in a world in which Nazi Germany won World War II.The novel was an immediate bestseller in Britain...
by Robert Harris
Robert Harris (novelist)
Robert Dennis Harris is an English novelist. He is a former journalist and BBC television reporter.-Early life:Born in Nottingham, Harris spent his childhood in a small rented house on a Nottingham council estate. His ambition to become a writer arose at an early age, from visits to the local...
. Byrne appeared as a Jewish concentration camp survivor who is instrumental in the capture of a Nazi war criminal (played by Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
) in the film Apt Pupil
Apt Pupil (film)
Apt Pupil is a 1998 American psychological thriller film based on the eponymous 1982 novella by Stephen King. The film was directed by Bryan Singer and stars Ian McKellen and Brad Renfro...
. He is also familiar to audiences as Smythe, a soldier who attempts to rape William Wallace's wife and first inspires Wallace to seek independence from England in the film Braveheart
Braveheart
Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...
.
His film credits include: Vampyres
Vampyres (film)
Vampyres is an erotic and bloody lesbian vampire film directed by Spanish film director José Ramón Larraz on location in England.-Plot:...
, The Eagle Has Landed
The Eagle Has Landed (film)
The Eagle Has Landed is a 1976 film version of the novel The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins. It was directed by John Sturges and starred Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall...
, Butley
Butley (film)
Butley is a 1973 film directed by Harold Pinter, an adaptation from Simon Gray's 1971 play of same name. The film starred Alan Bates, Jessica Tandy, Richard O'Callaghan, Susan Engel, and Michael Byrne....
,
A Bridge Too Far, The Medusa Touch
The Medusa Touch (film)
The Medusa Touch is a 1978 British supernatural thriller film directed by Jack Gold. It starred Richard Burton, Lino Ventura, Lee Remick and Harry Andrews, with cameos by Alan Badel, Derek Jacobi, Gordon Jackson, Jeremy Brett and Michael Hordern...
, Force 10 from Navarone, Proof of Life
Proof of Life
Proof of Life is a 2000 American film, directed by Taylor Hackford. The title refers to a phrase commonly used to indicate proof that a kidnap victim is still alive...
, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third film in the Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford reprises the title role and Sean Connery plays Indiana's father, Henry...
, Braveheart
Braveheart
Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...
, The Saint
The Saint (film)
The Saint is a 1997 film based on the character of Simon Templar created by Leslie Charteris in 1928 for a series of books published as "The Saint." The film stars Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue and Rade Šerbedžija...
, Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies is the eighteenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Bruce Feirstein wrote the screenplay, and it was directed by Roger Spottiswoode. It follows Bond as he tries to stop a media mogul from engineering...
, The Good Father
The Good Father
The Good Father is a 1985 British film directed by Mike Newell and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jim Broadbent, Harriet Walter, Fanny Viner, Simon Callow, Joanne Whalley, and Michael Byrne....
,
The Sum of All Fears
The Sum of All Fears (film)
The Sum of All Fears is a 2002 American action film/political thriller directed by Phil Alden Robinson and based on the novel The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy...
, Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Sharpe's Company, Sharpe's Honour and Sharpe's Enemy.
TV credits include: Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
; Secret Army
Secret Army (TV series)
Secret Army is a television drama series made by the BBC and the Belgian national broadcaster BRT created by Gerard Glaister. The series chronicled the history of a Belgian resistance movement during the Second World War dedicated to returning Allied airmen, usually having been shot down by the...
; Tales of the Unexpected
Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)
Tales of the Unexpected is a British television series originally aired between 1979 and 1988, made by Anglia Television for ITV. Filming began in 1978.The series was an anthology of different tales...
; The Professionals
The Professionals (TV series)
The Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...
; Smiley's People
Smiley's People
Smiley's People is a spy novel by John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the "Karla Trilogy", following Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Honourable Schoolboy...
; Yes, Prime Minister; Between The Lines; Sharpe
Sharpe (TV series)
Sharpe is a British series of television dramas starring Sean Bean about Richard Sharpe, a fictional British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars. Sharpe is the hero of a number of novels by Bernard Cornwell; most, though not all, of the episodes are based on the books...
; The Mists of Avalon;
Waking the Dead
Waking the Dead (TV series)
Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series...
and Honest
Honest (TV series)
Honest is a British comedy-drama series that aired on ITV in 2008. The series is a remake of the New Zealand series Outrageous Fortune, written by James Griffin and Rachel Lang, that first aired in 2005....
.
From April 2008 to January 2010 Michael starred in Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
, as Gail Platt
Gail Platt
Gail McIntyre is a long-standing fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Helen Worth, the character first appeared on screen on 12 July 1974...
's long lost father, and the ex-lover of Audrey Roberts, Ted Paige. It is not known whether or not he will return to the show in the future.
Michael appeared in State of Play at Edinburgh festival written by Zia Trench.
He appeared as Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (films)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates and the first of two films based on the novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling. It is the seventh instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by...
.
Michael played Romeo to Siân Phillips' Juliet at The Bristol Old Vic.