Esteemed French actor, best known for Baptiste, The Missing and La Femme Nikita, has died.
Esteemed French actor Tchéky Karyo, best known for Baptiste, The Missing and La Femme Nikita, has died aged 72.
His wife, actor Valérie Keruzoré, and their children announced his death following a battle with cancer.
Karyo had more than 100 other film and television credits during a 40-year career.
Born in Instanbul, he moved with his family to France at a young age. He began to land roles in film and was nominated for a César Award as Most Promising Actor for one of his earliest movies, La balance (1982).
He began working steadily through the 1980s, and his big break came in 1990, when Luc Besson cast him in the key role of Bob, a member of a secret government entity who mentors Nikita (Anne Pariillaud).
Supporting roles followed in Joan of Arc, Bad Boys, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, GoldenEye, Addicted to Love, Babel and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc.
Other credits included Pieces of Me, Requiem for a Killer, A Man and His Dog and many more.
Among his most famous TV roles was playing Detective Julien Baptiste in the British series The Missing, for which he was nominated as Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries at the 2015 Monte-Carlo TV Festival. He reprised the role in spinoff Baptiste, a 2019-21 crime drama.
He appeared in several episodes of War on Beasts, The Name of the Rose, ZeroZeroZero. His final role was the 2025 film Faster.
Source: Deadline