Tchéky Karyo, star of Nikita and The Missing, dies at 72
French actor Tchéky Karyo, who played the leading role in the movie Nikita and the TV series The Missing, passed away at the age of 72.
Karyo, who was born in Türkiye and grew up in Paris, died of cancer on Friday, according to the AFP news agency.
Known mostly for her supporting roles, Karyo appeared in films for nearly four decades and found a second career in TV series in her final years.
Karyo’s wife, actress Valérie Keruzoré, and their children announced his death in a statement to the news agency.
Karyo first made his mark in the crime thriller La Balance (1982) and played executive Bob in Luc Besson’s assassin film Nikita (1990).
BBC viewers may remember him best for his role in The Missing (2014).
In the first eight-episode series about the search for a missing child in France, Karyo took on the role of French detective Julien Baptiste. James Nesbitt and Frances O’Connor played the boy’s parents.
The second eight-episode series, about a girl lost in Germany, was broadcast in 2016. Karyo returned as Baptiste, and the girl’s parents were David Morrissey and Keeley Hawes.
Both series received positive reviews; critics praised the cast, especially Karyo’s performance.
A spin-off series called Baptiste was released on BBC One in February 2019.
Le Monde newspaper writes that Karyo was born in Istanbul on October 4, 1953, as the son of a Turkish truck driver of Spanish Jewish origin and a Greek mother.
After working as a theater actor for several years, he was nominated for the César Award for Best Male Revelation for his role in La Balance.
With his strong jaw and sharp gaze, he starred in dozens of films of all genres.
Other French films included Besson’s Joan of Arc (1993) and the anti-war epic A Very Long Engagement (2004). He also appeared in Ridley Scott’s 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) and the James Bond film GoldenEye (1995).
One of his leading roles was the role of the medieval prophet Nostradamus in the 1994 film of the same name; Her smallest role was undoubtedly in the movie Amélie (2001), in which she only appeared as the face in an ID photo in an album.
