Tchéky Karyo (; born Baruh Djaki Karyo; 4 October 1953 – 31 October 2025) was a Turkish-born French actor and musician. Beginning his career as an actor on stage in classical and contemporary plays, he 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 (2019–21).
Early life, family and education
Baruh Djaki Karyo was born in 1953 in Istanbul, Turkey. His mother was Greek Jewish, and his father, a delivery man and builder, was from a Turkish Sephardic Jewish family; both families had Spanish roots. In April 2018, it was confirmed that Karyo would reprise his Baptiste role in a spin-off series, Baptiste, to be written by Jack and Harry Williams. The first six-episode series began on BBC One on 17 February 2019, with a second series beginning on 18 July 2021. In 2018, Karyo appeared as Elisha in Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Garth Davis.
Karyo was also a musician and songwriter. In 2006 he released the album Ce lien qui nous unit (English: "This link that binds us"), and released Credo in 2013 on his 60th birthday.
Personal life and death
Karyo was married to Isabelle Pasco, but they divorced. In 2002, he married actress (23 years his junior) daughter Louise They were still married at the time of his death. Karyo spoke multiple languages and was fluent in French, Spanish, English and Arabic.
Awards
In 1982, he was nominated for a César Award for Most Promising Actor for his role in La Balance.
Selected filmography
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Language
! Director
|-
| rowspan=3 | 1982
| The Return of Martin Guerre
| Augustin
| French
| Daniel Vigne
|-
| Toute une nuit
| unnamed man
| French
| Chantal Akerman
|-
|-
| La Balance
| Petrovic
| French
| Bob Swaim
|-
| 1983
| Le Marginal
| Francis Pierron
| French
| Jacques Deray
|-
| 1984
| Full Moon in Paris
| Remi
| French
| Éric Rohmer
|-
| 1985
| L'Amour braque
| Micky
| French
| Andrzej Zulawski
|-
| 1986
| Bleu comme l'enfer
| Frank
| French
| Yves Boisset
|-
| 1987
| Sorceress
| Étienne de Bourbon
| French
| Suzanne Schiffman
|-
| 1988
| The Bear
| Tom
| French
| Jean-Jacques Annaud
|-
| 1989
| Australia
| Julien Pierson
| French
| Jean-Jacques Andrien
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1990
| La Femme Nikita
| Bob
| French
| Luc Besson
|-
| Vincent and Me
| Vincent van Gogh
| French
| Michael Rubbo
|-
| rowspan=3 | 1991
| A Grande Arte
| Hermes
| English / Portuguese / Spanish
| Walter Salles
|-
| Isabelle Eberhardt
| Slimene
| English
| Ian Pringle
|-
| Husband and Lovers
| Paolo
| English
| Mauro Bolognini
|-
| rowspan=4 | 1992
| Red Shoe Diaries (TV series)
| Phillip
| English
| Ted Kotcheff
|-
| 1492: Conquest of Paradise
| Martín Alonso Pinzón
| English
| Ridley Scott
|-
| L'Atlantide
| Lieutenant Morhange
| French
| Bob Swaim
|-
| Sketch Artist
| Paul Korbel
| English
| Phedon Papamichael
|-
| 1993
| And the Band Played On
| Willy Rozenbaum
| English
| Roger Spottiswoode
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1994
| La Cité de la peur
| Monsieur Jacques, The First Projectionist
| French
| Alain Berbérian
|-
| Nostradamus
| Nostradamus
| English
| Roger Christian
|-
| rowspan=6 | 1995
| Colpo di luna
| Lorenzo
| Italian
| Alberto Simone
|-
| Crying Freeman
| Detective Netah
| English
| Christophe Gans
|-
| Bad Boys
| Antoine Fouchet
| English
| Michael Bay
|-
| GoldenEye
| Russian Minister of Defence Dmitri Mishkin
| English
| Martin Campbell
|-
| Foreign Land
| Kraft
| Portuguese
| Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas
|-
| Operation Dumbo Drop
| Goddard
| English
| Simon Wincer
|-
| 1996
| To Have & to Hold
| Jack
| English
| John Hillcoat
|-
| rowspan=3 | 1997
| Dobermann
| Inspecteur Sauveur Cristini
| French
| Jan Kounen
|-
| Habitat
| Hank Symes
| English
| René Daalder
|-
| Addicted to Love
| Anton
| English
| Griffin Dunne
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1998
| From the Earth to the Moon (TV miniseries)
| Georges Méliès
| English
| (various)
|-
| Let There Be Light
| Harper
| French
| Arthur Joffé
|-
| rowspan=4 | 1999
| My Life So Far
| Gabriel Chenoux
| English
| Hugh Hudson
|-
| Babel
| Nemrod
| French
| Gérard Pullicino
|-
| The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc
| Jean de Dunois
| English
| Luc Besson
|-
| Wing Commander
| Commodore James "Paladin" Taggart
| English
| Chris Roberts
|-
| rowspan=4 | 2000
| Arabian Nights (TV miniseries)
| Black Coda
| English
| Steve Barron
|-
| Le Roi danse
| Molière
| French
| Gérard Corbiau
|-
| Saving Grace
| Jacques Chevalier
| English
| Nigel Cole
|-
| The Patriot
| Major Jean Villeneuve
| English
| Roland Emmerich
|-
| 2001
| Kiss of the Dragon
| Inspector Jean-Pierre Richard
| English
| Chris Nahon
|-
| 2002
| The Good Thief
| Roger
| English
| Neil Jordan
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2003
| Utopia
| Hervé
| French / Spanish
| María Ripoli
|-
| The Core
| Serge
| English
| Jon Amiel
|-
| rowspan=3 | 2004
| A Very Long Engagement
| Captain Etienne Favourier
| French
| Jean-Pierre Jeunet
|-
| Taking Lives
| Chief Inspector Hugo LeClair
| English
| D. J. Caruso
|-
| Blueberry
| The Uncle
| English
| Jan Kounen
|-
| 2005
| Les Rois maudits (TV miniseries)
| Philip IV of France
| French
| Josée Dayan
|-
| 2006
| The Gravedancers
| Vincent Cochet
| English
| Mike Mendez
|-
| rowspan=3 | 2007
| Jacquou le Croquant
| The Chevalier
| French
| Laurent Boutonnat
|-
| Boxes
| Jean
| French
| Jane Birkin
|-
| The Lark Farm
| Aram
| English
| Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2009
| A Man and His Dog
| The Guitar Player In The Park
| French
| Francis Huster
|-
| Kaamelott (TV series)
| Manius Macrinus Firmus (Book VI)
| French
| Alexandre Astier
|-
| 2010
| The Way
| Captain Henri
| English
| Emilio Estevez
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2011
| A Gang Story
| Serge Suttel
| French
| Olivier Marchal
|-
| Forces spéciales
| Guezennec
| French
| Stéphane Rybojad
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2012
| No Limit (TV series)
| Koskas
| French
| (various)
|-
| Pieces of Me
| Edern
| French
| Nolwenn Lemesle
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2013
| Jappeloup
| Marcel Rozier
| French
| Christian Duguay
|-
| Belle and Sebastian
| César
| French
| Nicolas Vanier
|-
| 2014
| The Missing, Series 1 (TV series)
| Julien Baptiste
| English
| Tom Shankland
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2015
| Through the Air
| Armand Cavelle
| French
| Fred Grivois
|-
| Belle & Sebastian: The Adventure Continues
| César
| French
| Christian Duguay
|-
| 2016
| The Missing, Series 2 (TV series)
| Julien Baptiste
| English
| Ben Chanan
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2018
| Mary Magdalene
| Elisha
| English
| Garth Davis
|-
| Belle and Sebastien: Friends for Life
| César
| French
| Clovis Cornillac
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2019
| Baptiste – Series 1 (TV series)
| Julien Baptiste
| English
| Börkur Sigþórsson
|-
| The Name of the Rose (TV miniseries)
| Pope John XXII
| English
| Giacomo Battiato
|-
| 2020
| ZeroZeroZero (TV miniseries)
| François Salvage
| English
| (various)
|-
| 2021
| Baptiste – Series 2 (TV series)
| Julien Baptiste
| English
| Thomas Napper
|-
| 2022
| Les Disparus de la Forêt-Noire (TV miniseries)
| Franz Agerland
| French
| Ivan Fegyveres
|-
| 2022
| Women at War (TV miniseries)
| Général Duvernet
| French
| Alexandre Laurent
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2023
| Liaison (TV series)
| Francis Miller
| French / English
| Stephen Hopkins
|-
| Boat Story (TV miniseries)
| The Tailor
| English
| (various)
|-
| 2024
| The Killer
| Tessier
| French / English
| John Woo
|-
| 2025
| Faster
| Le Duc
| French
| Morgan S. Dalibert
|}
Music videos
- 1992 "Born On The Wrong Side Of Town" Jaye Muller (J.) (directed by Jean Baptiste Mondino)
- 2005 "L'avenir est à nous" Kool Shen feat. Rohff & Dadoo (directed by J.G Biggs)
References
External links
- Tchéky Karyo at ECI Global Talent Management