Tchéky Karyo, who appeared in some of director Luc Besson’s biggest hits and a string of international films, died on Friday at the age of 72, his family have announced.
A statement from his wife and children sent to AFP said he had “succumbed to cancer”.
The actor appeared in many action and adventure films, sometimes as the lead but more often in supporting roles. Born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1953, he started out in French cinema in the 1980s, getting some early awards and nominations.
He was the hunter in Jean-Jacques Annaud’s 1988 wilderness adventure The Bear. Then in 1990 he got attention for his turn as the hard-nosed secret agent handling Anne Parillaud’s female assassin Nikita, in Besson’s hit film of the same name.
Karyo’s gift for languages – he spoke French, English and Spanish among others – meant he was soon appearing in international productions, such as Ridley Scott’s historical epic 1492: Conquest of Paradise. He later appeared in major Hollywood films including Bad Boys as drug kingpin Fouchet, and the James Bond film GoldenEye as the Russian defence minister.
He worked steadily through the subsequent decades in cinema and television in France and abroad, appearing in films as varied as Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s 2001 whimsical comedy Amélie and Brazilian director Walter Salles’s 1995 thriller Foreign Land.
Probably his best known role for UK audiences came late in his career, as French detective Julien Baptiste in two series of the BBC crime show The Missing, and its spinoff Baptiste.
