Michael Byrne
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.
Acted in
Bodies
2023
as Old Mullins
The Gold Machine
2022
as Andrew Norton
Alien Overlords
2018
as Michael
Intrigo: Death of an Author
2018
as Keller
The Last Witness
2018
as Coroner
The Living and the Dead
2016
as Ebenezer Alsop
Agatha Raisin
2016
as Bishop Parsons
Harry Price: Ghost Hunter
2015
as Sir Charles Harwood
Mortdecai
2015
as The Duke
The First Line
2014
as Richard
Diana
2013
as Christiaan Barnard
Crossing Lines
2013
as Edward Baxendale
Quartet
2012
as Frank White
Outpost: Black Sun
2012
as Neurath
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2010
as Gellert Grindelwald
Blood: The Last Vampire
2009
as Elder
The Mark of Cain
2007
as Lieut General Strathairn
Empire
2005
as Cicero
Beyond the Sea
2004
as Dr. Andretti
Double the Fist
2004
The Return of the Dancing Master
2004
as Emil Wetterstedt
The Crooked Man
2003
as Archie Saunders
Gangs of New York
2002
as Horace Greeley
Ultimate Force
2002
The Sum of All Fears
2002
as Anatoli Grushkov
Sunday
2002
as Lord Widgery
The Musketeer
2001
as Treville, Head of the Musketeers
Hornblower
2001
The Mists of Avalon
2001
as Merlin
Waking the Dead
2001
as Joe Brackley
Proof of Life
2000
as Lord Luthan
Battlefield Earth
2000
as Parson Staffer
Mauá - O Imperador e o Rei
1999
as Mr. Carruthers
The Vice
1999
Apt Pupil
1998
as Ben Kramer
30 Years to Life
1998
as Oliver Mather
Hornblower: The Even Chance
1998
as Captain Keene
Hornblower
1998
as Captain Keene
Imogen's Face
1998
as Patrick
Gunshy
1998
as Lange
Heat of the Sun
1998
Tomorrow Never Dies
1997
as Admiral Kelly - HMS Bedford
Sharpe: The Legend
1997
as Nairn
Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse
1997
as Venables
The Island on Bird Street
1997
as Bolek
The Saint
1997
as Vereshagin
Midsomer Murders
1997
as Keith Grundy
The Practice
1997
as Officer (uncredited)
The Fix
1997
as Sam Campbell
No Bananas
1996
as Edward Grant
Silent Witness
1996
The Infiltrator
1995
as Dieter Creutz
Oliver's Travels
1995
as Moody
Oliver's Travels
1995
Braveheart
1995
as Smythe
The Absence of War
1995
as Bryden Thomas
Hamish Macbeth
1995
as Duncan Scott
Nostradamus
1994
as Inquisitor
A Few Short Journeys of the Heart
1994
as Blank/German/Old Geezer
Sharpe's Honour
1994
as Major Nairn
Sharpe's Enemy
1994
as Major Nairn
Sharpe's Company
1994
as Major Nairn
Hildegard
1994
as Volmar
Sharpe
1993
as Major Nairn
A Touch of Frost
1992
as Alex Ormrod
Running Late
1992
as Clitheroe
Between the Lines
1992
Murderous Decisions
1991
as Octave
The Plot to Kill Hitler
1990
as Friedrich Olbricht
Saracen
1989
as Col. Patrick Ansell
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
1989
as Vogel
Buster
1988
as Poyser
The Happy Valley
1987
as John Carberry
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries
1987
as DCC Charles Griswold
A Sort of Innocence
1986
Theban Plays: Oedipus the King
1986
as Chorus
Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy
1986
as George Abell
Yes, Prime Minister
1986
The Good Father
1985
as Leonard Scruby
In the Secret State
1985
as Guy Preger
Ellis Island
1984
as Dr. Carl Travers
The Bill
1984
Champions
1984
as Richard Hussey
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
1983
as Antonio
The Scarlet and the Black
1983
as Reinhard Beck
The Tragedy of Richard III
1983
as Duke of Buckingham
Henry VI Part 3
1983
as Marquess of Montague / Father that killed his son
Henry VI Part 2
1983
as John Hume / Lieutenant
Henry VI Part 1
1983
as Duke of Alencon
Man and Superman
1982
as Henry Straker
Smiley's People
1982
as Peter Guillam
The Search for Alexander the Great
1981
as Demosthenes
The Silence of the Sea
1980
as Werner Von Ebrennac
Lady Killers
1980
as Edward Marshall-Hall
Lady Killers
1980
as Edward Marshall-Hall KC
The Enigma Files
1980
as David Stanley
Coming Out
1979
as Gunnar Wedelman
Tales of the Unexpected
1979
as Patrick Marney
BBC Television Shakespeare
1978
Force 10 from Navarone
1978
as Schroeder
The Medusa Touch
1978
as Duff
The Professionals
1977
as Werner Dreisinger
Secret Army
1977
as Paul Vercors
A Bridge Too Far
1977
as Lt. Col. Giles A.M. Vandeleur
The Eagle Has Landed
1976
as Karl
Rogue Male
1976
as Interrogator
The Omen
1976
as Monk (uncredited)
Break In
1975
as Clarke
Shades of Greene
1975
as Trevor's Father
Wednesday Love
1975
as Bruce
If It's a Man – Hang Up!
1975
as Richard Lovell
Conduct Unbecoming
1975
as 2nd Lt. Toby Strang
Vampyres
1974
as Playboy
Headmaster
1974
Butley
1974
as Reg Nuttall
Within These Walls
1974
Ms or Jill and Jack
1974
Thriller
1973
as Richard Lovell
Crown Court
1972
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
1972
as Edward Seymour
Play for Today
1970
Play for Today
1970
as Russell
Play for Today
1970
as Bruce
The Image
1969
as The Artist
Much Ado About Nothing
1967
as Claudio
The Silent Playground
1963
as Roger
The Scarlet Blade
1963
as Lt. Hawke
Coronation Street
1960
as Ted Page