Tchéky Karyo

French actor who began his career on stage in classical and contemporary plays, and later worked as a character actor in films in the 1980s. He acted in numerous films by Hollywood and French directors, including Luc Besson. He was nominated for a César Award for Most Promising Actor for his performance in the 1982 film La Balance.

His film credits include La Femme Nikita, Vincent and Me, Nostradamus, Crying Freeman, Bad Boys, GoldenEye, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, The Patriot and Kiss of the Dragon. His television roles include Dr. Willy Rozenbaum in the HBO film And the Band Played On, Georges Méliès in the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, and French detective Julien Baptiste in the BBC crime drama The Missing, and its spin-off series Baptiste (2019–2021).

Karyo was married to actress and model Isabelle Pasco, and they later divorced. In 2002, he married actress Valérie Keruzoré (23 years his junior) with whom he had two children, daughter Louise and son Liv. They were still married at the time of his death. Karyo spoke multiple languages and was fluent in French, Spanish, English and Arabic.

Tchéky Karyo died from cancer on 31 October 2025 at the age of 72 in Brittany.