Michael Byrne, British actor known for 'Indiana Jones' and 'Harry Potter', dies aged 82

Byrne performed with the National Theatre Company during the 1960s alongside Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith and more

British stage and screen actor Michael Byrne, best known for his roles in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Coronation Street, has died aged 82. The Guardian reported that Byrne passed away on June 20.

Byrne built a career spanning more than five decades across theatre, film and television. He portrayed the ruthless Colonel Vogel in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and the elderly Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010).

His film credits also included Braveheart (1995), where he played a soldier who attempts to rape the wife of Mel Gibson’s William Wallace, and Apt Pupil (1998), in which he appeared as a concentration camp survivor helping expose a Nazi war criminal.

Other notable appearances included The Good Father, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Saint, Gangs of New York, The Sum of All Fears and Quartet.

Born in Hampstead, north London, on November 7, 1943, Byrne performed with the National Theatre Company during the 1960s alongside Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens.

He later appeared with Alan Bates in the original West End production of Butley, directed by Harold Pinter, before reprising the role in the 1974 film adaptation.

Television audiences also recognised Byrne for his role as Ted Page in ITV’s Coronation Street between 2008 and 2010.

He is survived by his wife, actress Carole Nimmons, whom he married in 1965, their daughters Tara and Bryony, and grandchildren Tom, Chloe and Jasmine.