Michael Byrne
Acting · Crew
Born November 7, 1943, London, England, UK
Michael Byrne was a British actor sometimes cast as Nazis 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 was 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, heappeared 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. 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. He was the father of actress Allie Byrne.
Filmography
- Bodies — Old Mullins
- 2022The Gold Machine — Andrew Norton
- 2019Intrigo: Samaria — Commissioner Keller
- 2018Alien Overlords — Michael
- 2018Intrigo: Death of an Author — Keller
- 2018The Last Witness — Coroner
- Strike — Roy Phipps
- Agatha Raisin — Bishop Parsons
- The Living and the Dead — Ebenezer Alsop
- Cuffs — Leslie Kane
- 2015Harry Price: Ghost Hunter — Sir Charles Harwood
- 2015Mortdecai — The Duke
- 2014The First Line — Richard
- Crossing Lines — Edward Baxendale
- 2013Diana — Christiaan Barnard
- 2012Outpost: Black Sun — Neurath
- 2012Quartet — Frank White
- The Body Farm — Harold Penton
- 2010Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 — Gellert Grindelwald
- 2009Blood: The Last Vampire — Elder
- 2007The Mark of Cain — Lieut General Strathairn
- Empire — Cicero
- 2005Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith — Stunt Double
- 2004Beyond the Sea — Dr. Andretti
- Double the Fist
- 2004The Return of the Dancing Master — Emil Wetterstedt
- 2003The Crooked Man — Archie Saunders
- 2002Gangs of New York — Horace Greeley
- 2002Sunday — Lord Widgery
- 2002The Sum of All Fears — Anatoli Grushkov
- Ultimate Force
- The Mists of Avalon — Merlin
- 2001The Musketeer — Treville, Head of the Musketeers
- Waking the Dead — Joe Brackley
- 2000Battlefield Earth — Parson Staffer
- 2000Proof of Life — Lord Luthan
- 2000The Holocaust on Trial — Richard Rampton QC
- 1999Mauá - O Imperador e o Rei — Mr. Carruthers
- The Vice — Solicitor
- 199830 Years to Life — Oliver Mather
- 1998Apt Pupil — Ben Kramer
- 1998Gunshy — Lange
- Heat of the Sun
- Hornblower — Captain Keene
- 1998Hornblower: The Even Chance — Captain Keene
- 1998Imogen's Face — Patrick
- 1997Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse — Venables
- Midsomer Murders — Keith Grundy
- 1997Sharpe: The Legend — Nairn
- 1997The Fix — Sam Campbell
- 1997The Island on Bird Street — Bolek
- The Practice — Officer (uncredited)
- 1997The Saint — Vereshagin
- 1997Tomorrow Never Dies — HMS Bedford Admiral Kelly
- No Bananas — Edward Grant
- Silent Witness
- 1995Braveheart — Smythe
- Hamish Macbeth — Duncan Scott
- Oliver's Travels — Moody
- 1995The Infiltrator — Dieter Creutz
- 1994A Few Short Journeys of the Heart — Blank/German/Old Geezer
- 1994Hildegard — Volmar
- 1994Nostradamus — Inquisitor
- 1994Sharpe's Company — Major Nairn
- 1994Sharpe's Enemy — Major Nairn
- 1994Sharpe's Honour — Major Nairn
- Sharpe — Major Nairn
- A Touch of Frost — Alex Ormrod
- Between the Lines
- 1992Running Late — Clitheroe
- 1991Murderous Decisions — Octave
- The Chief — Sir Robert Eaton
- 1990The Plot to Kill Hitler — Friedrich Olbricht
- 1989Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade — Vogel
- Saracen — Col. Patrick Ansell
- Screen One — Clitheroe
- 1988Buster — Poyser
- 1987The Happy Valley — John Carberry
- The Ruth Rendell Mysteries — DCC Charles Griswold
- A Sort of Innocence
- Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy — George Abell
- 1986Theban Plays: Oedipus the King — Chorus
- Yes, Prime Minister
- 1985In the Secret State — Guy Preger
- Screen Two — Guy Preger
- 1985The Good Father — Leonard Scruby
- 1984Champions — Richard Hussey
- Ellis Island — Dr. Carl Travers
- The Bill
- 1983Henry VI Part 1 — Duke of Alencon
- 1983Henry VI Part 2 — John Hume / Lieutenant
- 1983Henry VI Part 3 — Marquess of Montague / Father that killed his son
- 1983The Scarlet and the Black — Reinhard Beck
- 1983The Tragedy of Richard III — Duke of Buckingham
- 1983The Two Gentlemen of Verona — Antonio
- 1982Man and Superman — Henry Straker
- Smiley's People — Peter Guillam
- The Search for Alexander the Great — Demosthenes
- Lady Killers — Edward Marshall-Hall KC
- The Enigma Files — David Stanley
- 1980The Silence of the Sea — Werner Von Ebrennac
- 1979Coming Out — Gunnar Wedelman
- Tales of the Unexpected — Patrick Marney
- 1979Tales of the Unexpected: Lamb to the Slaughter — Ratrick Marney
- Accident — Ian Shaw
- 1978Force 10 from Navarone — Schroeder
- Strangers — Sgt Briscoe
- The BBC Television Shakespeare — Antonio
- The Devil's Crown — Richard Lionheart
- 1978The Medusa Touch — Duff
- 1977A Bridge Too Far — Lt. Col. Giles A.M. Vandeleur
- Premiere — Werner Von Ebrennac
- Secret Army — Paul Vercors
- The Professionals — Werner Dreisinger
- 1976Rogue Male — Interrogator
- 1976The Eagle Has Landed — Karl
- 1976The Omen — Monk (uncredited)
- 1975Break In — Clarke
- 1975Conduct Unbecoming — 2nd Lt. Toby Strang
- Edward the Seventh — Fritz
- 1975If It's a Man – Hang Up! — Richard Lovell
- 1975Wednesday Love — Bruce
- 1974Butley — Reg Nuttall
- 1974Headmaster
- 1974Ms or Jill and Jack
- 1974Vampyres — Playboy
- Thriller — Richard Lovell
- Crown Court
- 1972Henry VIII and His Six Wives — Edward Seymour
- New Scotland Yard — DS Patten
- Play for Today — Russell, Bruce
- ITV Saturday Night Theatre — Jason
- 1969The Image — The Artist
- 1967Much Ado About Nothing — Claudio
- BBC Play of the Month — Viskovsky
- 1963The Scarlet Blade — Lt. Hawke
- 1963The Silent Playground — Roger
- Coronation Street — Ted Page
- Bjorn of the Dead — Derek