BELOVED actor Tchéky Karyo has died of cancer at the age of 72.
Karyo was best known for his starring role in the film Nikita, James Bond hit GoldenEye and in the popular BBC series The Missing.
His passing was announced by his wife, actress Valérie Keruzoré, and their two children.
They released a heartbreaking statement saying the French film star had “succumbed to cancer this Friday, October 31”.
Kayro was best known in Britain for his role as TV detective Julien Baptiste in The Missing.
He played Baptise in the eight-part BBC series in 2014 before reprising his role in another eight episodes in 2016.
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Then the BBC launched a spin-off called Baptiste in 2019 centred around Karyo’s character.
At the time, the beloved actor said about the reprisal of the role: “I didn’t expect it, but it’s flattering. This has made me feel young again.”
The creators of Baptise had even teased another season of the mystery thriller earlier this summer.
Earlier on his career Karyo found global success on several top projects.
He played the handler Bob in Luc Besson’s assassin film Nikita in 1990.
Other major roles included Ridley Scott’s historical epic 1492: Conquest of Paradise and the James Bond film GoldenEye.
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Kayro started out in French cinema in the 1980s.
His first major film role came in crime thriller La Balance in 1982.
His stellar performance even earned him a nomination for the César Award for Best Male Revelation.
One of his most recent roles came in 2023 when he joined forces with the BBC once again for the comedy thriller, Boat Story.
Kayro had 140 roles across his decorated career in both film and TV.
He was also a singer songwriter with two albums being released in 2006 and 2013.