Veteran actor Tchéky Karyo, star of Nikita and The Missing, dies aged 72 | Movies
Tchéky Karyo, who starred in some of director Luc Besson’s biggest hits and a number of international films, died on Friday at the age of 72, his family announced.
In the statement sent to AFP by his wife and children, it was stated that he “succumbed to cancer”.
The actor appeared in many action and adventure films, sometimes in leading roles and mostly in supporting roles. He was born in 1953 in Istanbul, Türkiye. He got his start in French cinema in the 1980s and received early awards and nominations.
He was the hunter in Jean-Jacques Annaud’s 1988 wilderness adventure The Bear. He later came to attention in 1990 with his role as the dogged undercover agent who manipulates Anne Parillaud’s female assassin Nikita in Besson’s hit film of the same name.
Karyo’s talent for languages (he could speak French, English and Spanish, among others) meant he would soon be 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 lord Fouchet, and the Russian defense minister in the James Bond movie GoldenEye.
In the following years he worked steadily in film and television in France and abroad; He starred in a variety of films, from Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s quirky 2001 comedy Amélie to Brazilian director Walter Salles’ 1995 thriller Foreign Country.
Arguably his best-known roles to UK audiences came late in his career as French detective Julien Baptiste in two series of BBC crime show The Missing and its spin-off Baptiste.
