Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
November 7, 1943
Place of Birth:
London, England, UK
Social Media
Michael Byrne
Biography
Byrne was born in London, England. He has sometimes been cast in Nazimilitary roles such as Colonel Vogel in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Major Schroeder in Force 10 from Navarone, Reinhard Beck in The Scarlet and the Black, General Olbricht in The Plot to Kill Hitler and Obergruppenführer Odilo Globocnik in the BBC radio dramatisation of the novel Fatherland by Robert Harris. Also seen as the aged but fanatical SS General Neurath in "Outpost 2 - Black Sun", former concentration camp commandant and involved in the Nazis's sinister reality-shifting experiments. 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 other film credits include The Eagle Has Landed, A Bridge Too Far, The Medusa Touch, The Saint, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Good Father, The Sum of All Fears, Gangs of New York and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. On television, he has appeared in Z-Cars, Secret Army, Tales of the Unexpected, The Professionals, The Devil's Crown,Smiley's People, Yes, Prime Minister, Lord Mountbatten - the Last Viceroy, Between The Lines, Sharpe, The Mists of Avalon, Waking the Dead, The Body Farm, Honest, Hamish Macbeth, and Casualty. From April 2008 to January 2010, Michael starred in Coronation Street, as Ted Page, Gail Platt's long lost father and the ex-lover of Audrey Roberts. It is not known whether he will return to the show. Byrne appeared in State of Play at the Edinburgh Festival written by Zia Trench. He played Romeo to Siân Phillips' Juliet at the Bristol Old Vic. Father of actress Allie Byrne.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | The Gold Machine | Andrew Norton |
| 2019 | Intrigo: Samaria | Commissioner Keller |
| 2018 | Intrigo: Death of an Author | Keller |
| 2018 | The Last Witness | Coroner |
| 2018 | Alien Overlords | Michael |
| 2015 | Harry Price: Ghost Hunter | Sir Charles Harwood |
| 2015 | Mortdecai | The Duke |
| 2014 | The First Line | Richard |
| 2013 | Diana | Christiaan Barnard |
| 2012 | Outpost: Black Sun | Neurath |
| 2012 | Quartet | Frank White |
| 2010 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 | Gellert Grindelwald |
| 2009 | Blood: The Last Vampire | Elder |
| 2007 | The Mark of Cain | Lieut General Strathairn |
| 2004 | Beyond the Sea | Dr. Andretti |
| 2004 | The Return of the Dancing Master | Emil Wetterstedt |
| 2003 | The Crooked Man | Archie Saunders |
| 2002 | Gangs of New York | Horace Greeley |
| 2002 | The Sum of All Fears | Anatoli Grushkov |
| 2002 | Sunday | Lord Widgery |
| 2001 | The Musketeer | Treville, Head of the Musketeers |
| 2000 | Battlefield Earth | Parson Staffer |
| 2000 | Proof of Life | Lord Luthan |
| 1999 | Mauá - O Imperador e o Rei | Mr. Carruthers |
| 1998 | Hornblower: The Even Chance | Captain Keene |
| 1998 | 30 Years to Life | Oliver Mather |
| 1998 | Imogen's Face | Patrick |
| 1998 | Apt Pupil | Ben Kramer |
| 1998 | Gunshy | Lange |
| 1997 | The Saint | Vereshagin |
| 1997 | The Island on Bird Street | Bolek |
| 1997 | Tomorrow Never Dies | HMS Bedford Admiral Kelly |
| 1997 | Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse | Venables |
| 1997 | Sharpe: The Legend | Nairn |
| 1997 | The Fix | Sam Campbell |
| 1995 | The Infiltrator | Dieter Creutz |
| 1995 | Braveheart | Smythe |
| 1995 | The Absence of War | Bryden Thomas |
| 1994 | Sharpe's Company | Major Nairn |
| 1994 | A Few Short Journeys of the Heart | Blank/German/Old Geezer |
| 1994 | Hildegard | Volmar |
| 1994 | Nostradamus | Inquisitor |
| 1994 | Sharpe's Enemy | Major Nairn |
| 1994 | Sharpe's Honour | Major Nairn |
| 1992 | Running Late | Clitheroe |
| 1991 | Murderous Decisions | Octave |
| 1990 | The Plot to Kill Hitler | Friedrich Olbricht |
| 1989 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | Vogel |
| 1988 | Buster | Poyser |
| 1987 | The Happy Valley | John Carberry |
| 1986 | Theban Plays: Oedipus the King | Chorus |
| 1985 | In the Secret State | Guy Preger |
| 1985 | The Good Father | Leonard Scruby |
| 1984 | Champions | Richard Hussey |
| 1983 | Henry VI Part 3 | Marquess of Montague / Father that killed his son |
| 1983 | The Tragedy of Richard III | Duke of Buckingham |
| 1983 | Henry VI Part 2 | John Hume / Lieutenant |
| 1983 | Henry VI Part 1 | Duke of Alencon |
| 1983 | The Scarlet and the Black | Reinhard Beck |
| 1983 | The Two Gentlemen of Verona | Antonio |
| 1982 | Man and Superman | Henry Straker |
| 1981 | The Search for Alexander the Great | Demosthenes |
| 1980 | The Silence of the Sea | Werner Von Ebrennac |
| 1979 | Coming Out | Gunnar Wedelman |
| 1978 | The Medusa Touch | Duff |
| 1978 | Force 10 from Navarone | Schroeder |
| 1977 | A Bridge Too Far | Lt. Col. Giles A.M. Vandeleur |
| 1976 | The Eagle Has Landed | Karl |
| 1976 | Rogue Male | Interrogator |
| 1976 | The Omen | Monk (uncredited) |
| 1975 | Break In | Clarke |
| 1975 | If It's a Man – Hang Up! | Richard Lovell |
| 1975 | Wednesday Love | Bruce |
| 1975 | Conduct Unbecoming | 2nd Lt. Toby Strang |
| 1974 | Vampyres | Playboy |
| 1974 | Butley | Reg Nuttall |
| 1974 | Ms or Jill and Jack | |
| 1974 | Headmaster | |
| 1972 | Henry VIII and His Six Wives | Edward Seymour |
| 1969 | The Image | The Artist |
| 1967 | Much Ado About Nothing | Claudio |
| 1963 | The Scarlet Blade | Lt. Hawke |
| 1963 | The Silent Playground | Roger |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Bodies | Old Mullins |
| 2017 | Strike | Roy Phipps |
| 2016 | The Living and the Dead | Ebenezer Alsop |
| 2016 | Agatha Raisin | Bishop Parsons |
| 2013 | Crossing Lines | Edward Baxendale |
| 2005 | Empire | Cicero |
| 2004 | Double the Fist | |
| 2002 | Ultimate Force | |
| 2001 | Waking the Dead | Joe Brackley |
| 2001 | The Mists of Avalon | Merlin |
| 1999 | The Vice | |
| 1998 | Hornblower | Captain Keene |
| 1998 | Heat of the Sun | |
| 1997 | The Practice | Officer (uncredited) |
| 1997 | Midsomer Murders | Keith Grundy |
| 1996 | Silent Witness | |
| 1996 | No Bananas | Edward Grant |
| 1995 | Oliver's Travels | Moody |
| 1995 | Oliver's Travels | |
| 1995 | Hamish Macbeth | Duncan Scott |
| 1993 | Sharpe | Major Nairn |
| 1992 | A Touch of Frost | Alex Ormrod |
| 1992 | Between the Lines | |
| 1989 | Saracen | Col. Patrick Ansell |
| 1987 | The Ruth Rendell Mysteries | DCC Charles Griswold |
| 1986 | Yes, Prime Minister | |
| 1986 | A Sort of Innocence | |
| 1986 | Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy | George Abell |
| 1984 | The Bill | |
| 1984 | Ellis Island | Dr. Carl Travers |
| 1982 | Smiley's People | Peter Guillam |
| 1980 | The Enigma Files | David Stanley |
| 1980 | Lady Killers | Edward Marshall-Hall |
| 1980 | Lady Killers | Edward Marshall-Hall KC |
| 1979 | Tales of the Unexpected | Patrick Marney |
| 1978 | The BBC Television Shakespeare | Duke of Buckingham |
| 1978 | The BBC Television Shakespeare | Antonio |
| 1978 | The BBC Television Shakespeare | Duke of Alençon |
| 1978 | The BBC Television Shakespeare | John Hume/Ship's Lieutenant |
| 1978 | The BBC Television Shakespeare | Marquess of Montague/Father who killed his son |
| 1977 | Secret Army | Paul Vercors |
| 1977 | The Professionals | Werner Dreisinger |
| 1975 | Shades of Greene | Trevor's Father |
| 1974 | Within These Walls | |
| 1973 | Thriller | Richard Lovell |
| 1972 | Crown Court | |
| 1970 | Play for Today | |
| 1970 | Play for Today | Russell |
| 1970 | Play for Today | Bruce |
| 1960 | Coronation Street | Ted Page |