Acting
Michael Byrne
EN, EL, DE, PT cinema · 87 credits
Born
7 November 1943
Died
20 June 2026 (aged 82)
Birthplace
London, England, UK
Also known as Майкл Бирн
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.
Known for
Filmography
The Gold Machine
as Andrew Norton
Intrigo: Samaria
as Commissioner Keller
The Last Witness
as Coroner
Alien Overlords
as Michael
Harry Price: Ghost Hunter
as Sir Charles Harwood
Mortdecai
as The Duke
The First Line
as Richard
Diana
as Christiaan Barnard
Outpost: Black Sun
as Neurath
Quartet
as Frank White
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
as Gellert Grindelwald
The Mark of Cain
as Lieut General Strathairn
Beyond the Sea
as Dr. Andretti
The Return of the Dancing Master
as Emil Wetterstedt
The Crooked Man
as Archie Saunders
Gangs of New York
as Horace Greeley
The Sum of All Fears
as Anatoli Grushkov
Sunday
as Lord Widgery
The Musketeer
as Treville, Head of the Musketeers
Battlefield Earth
as Parson Staffer
Proof of Life
as Lord Luthan
The Holocaust on Trial
as Richard Rampton QC
Mauá - O Imperador e o Rei
as Mr. Carruthers
Hornblower: The Even Chance
as Captain Keene
30 Years to Life
as Oliver Mather
Imogen's Face
as Patrick
Apt Pupil
as Ben Kramer
Gunshy
as Lange
The Saint
as Vereshagin
Tomorrow Never Dies
as HMS Bedford Admiral Kelly
Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse
as Venables
Sharpe: The Legend
as Nairn
The Fix
as Sam Campbell
Deadly Voyage
as Commissioner
The Infiltrator
as Dieter Creutz
Braveheart
as Smythe
Sharpe's Company
as Major Nairn
A Few Short Journeys of the Heart
as Blank/German/Old Geezer
Hildegard
as Volmar
Nostradamus
as Inquisitor
Sharpe's Enemy
as Major Nairn
Sharpe's Honour
as Major Nairn
Running Late
as Clitheroe
Murderous Decisions
as Octave
The Plot to Kill Hitler
as Friedrich Olbricht
Buster
as Poyser
The Happy Valley
as John Carberry
In the Secret State
as Guy Preger
The Good Father
as Leonard Scruby
Champions
as Richard Hussey
Henry VI Part 1
as Duke of Alencon
Henry VI Part 2
as John Hume / Lieutenant
Henry VI Part 3
as Marquess of Montague / Father that killed his son
The Tragedy of Richard III
as Duke of Buckingham
The Scarlet and the Black
as Reinhard Beck
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
as Antonio
Man and Superman
as Henry Straker
The Silence of the Sea
as Werner Von Ebrennac
Coming Out
as Gunnar Wedelman
Tales of the Unexpected: Lamb to the Slaughter
as Ratrick Marney
The Medusa Touch
as Duff
Force 10 from Navarone
as Schroeder
A Bridge Too Far
as Lt. Col. Giles A.M. Vandeleur
Rogue Male
as Interrogator
The Omen
as Monk (uncredited)
Break In
as Clarke
If It's a Man... Hang Up!
1975
If It's a Man – Hang Up!
as Richard Lovell
Wednesday Love
as Bruce
Conduct Unbecoming
as 2nd Lt. Toby Strang
Vampyres
as Playboy
Butley
as Reg Nuttall
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
as Edward Seymour
The Image
as The Artist
Much Ado About Nothing
as Claudio
The Scarlet Blade
as Lt. Hawke
