Coronation Street and Indiana Jones star dies aged 82
The beloved actor Michael Byrne who went on to star on stage, TV and in film has sadly died at the age of 82, it has been confirmed.Michael enjoyed a lengthy career which spanned over six decades, which saw the actor appear on TVs and the big screen from Coronation Street to Indiana Jones. In his 60 years before retirement, he acted alongside some of the greats including Sean Connery and Harrison Ford.The Hampstead-born star appeared on in Corrie between 2008 and 2010, playing the absent gay father of Gail and the ex-lover of Audrey Roberts in the ITV soap.He memorably gave his unlucky-in-love daughter away at her wedding to Joe McIntyre, and was written out of the show in 2021. It comes on the day soap bosses pay an emotional tribute to beloved director Kay Patrick, who worked on the show for over 20 years.Aside for his role in the soap, he was a TV regular supporting actor in many much-loved shows, including BBC's Casualty, a Touch of Frost and Sharpe.Michael started his career on stage, appearing in 1960s productions alongside Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens in the Shaffer’s The Royal Hunt of the Sun and Pinero’s Trelawny of the Wells, reports The Mirror.He acted in the iconic movie Braveheart as the English commanding officer Smythe, and in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. He even starred alongside Sir Ian McKellen as a Jewish concentration camp survivor in Apt Pupil.Fans also knew him as Colonel Vogel in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.His big parts didn't stop there. He also appeared in the 2010 film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 as powerful wizard Gellert Grindelwald.His other film credits include The Eagle Has Landed, A Bridge Too Far, The Medusa Touch, The Saint, The Sum of All Fears and Gangs of New York.The veteran actor is survived by former wife Carole, who cared for him towards the end of his life. They had two daughters, Tara and Bryony, and three grandchildren, Tom, Chloe and Jasmine.His final on-stage appearances came in Schiller’s Mary Stuart in 2018 before retiring after an incredible 60-year career.
