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Hugh Keays-Byrne

Actor, Director
Born May 18, 1947Died December 2, 2020 (73 years)
Hugh Keays-Byrne (May 18, 1947 – December 2, 2020) was a British-Australian actor and film director. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was best known for playing the main antagonist in two films from the Mad Max franchise: Toecutter in Mad Max (1979), and Immortan Joe in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). He also played Toad in the 1974 biker film Stone, and Grunchlk on the science fiction series Farscape.

Keays-Byrne was born in Srinagar, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir (part of the British Raj then, India now) to British parents; his family returned to Britain when India was partitioned. He began his career as a stage actor.

Keays-Byrne made his first television appearance in 1967 on the British television programme Boy Meets Girl. He was part of Peter Brook's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Royal Shakespeare Company, which toured Australia in 1973. Keays-Byrne decided to remain in Australia after the tour ended. In 1974, he acted in the TV movie Essington, then made his first film appearance in the motorcycle picture Stone (1974). This was followed by supporting roles in films like The Man from Hong Kong (1975), Mad Dog Morgan (1976), The Trespassers (1976) and Snapshot (1979).

After his first starring role in the 1978 TV movie Death Train, Keays-Byrne was cast as the violent gang leader Toecutter in Mad Max (1979). Director George Miller had Keays-Byrne and the other actors for the gang travel from Sydney to Melbourne in a group on motorcycles, as there was no money for airplane tickets. In an early international print of the film, Keays-Byrne was dubbed with a bad American accent, which Miller later regretted.

Keays-Byrne then continued to act in post-apocalyptic and science fiction films like The Chain Reaction (1980), Strikebound (1984), Starship (1985) and The Blood of Heroes (1989). In 1992, he made his directorial debut and acted in the film Resistance. He also appeared in TV miniseries adaptations of Moby Dick (1998) and Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1999).

Keays-Byrne played Grunchlk in the science fiction television series Farscape (1999–2003) and its conclusion Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (2004). George Miller also cast him as the Martian Manhunter in the planned 2009 movie Justice League: Mortal.

Keays-Byrne returned to the Mad Max franchise in the 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road as the main villain Immortan Joe. The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, winning 6, and Keays-Byrne was nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Hugh Keays-Byrne, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movies & Shows on Plex
  • Farscape
  • Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars
  • The Blood of Heroes
  • Where the Green Ants Dream
  • The Man from Hong Kong
  • Mad Dog Morgan
  • The Chain Reaction
Known For
  • Mad Max: Fury Road
  • Mad Max
  • Moby Dick
  • Journey to the Center of the Earth (1999)
  • The Man from Hong Kong
  • Stone
  • The Chain Reaction
  • Snapshot
  • The Death Train
  • Les Patterson Saves the World
  • Kangaroo
  • Blue Fin
  • For Love Alone
  • Lorca and the Outlaws
  • Strikebound
  • Barnaby and Me
  • Treasure Island
  • The Outsiders (1976)
  • The Trespassers

Filmography

2015
Mad Max: Fury Road · as Immortan Joe
2011
Sleeping Beauty · as Man 3
2004
Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (TV Series) · as Grunchlk
1999
1999
Farscape (TV Series) · as Grunchlk
1999
Huntsman 5.1 · as Bain
1998
Moby Dick (TV Series) · as Mr. Stubb
1995
1992
Resistance · as Peter
1989
1988
Dadah Is Death · as Hammed
1988
Badlands 2005 · as Moondance
1987
Treasure Island · as (voice)
1987
Les Patterson Saves the World · as Inspector Farouk
1987
Dangerfreaks · as Morrie Grosse
1986
Kangaroo · as Kangaroo
1986
For Love Alone · as Andrew
1985
Burke & Wills · as Ambrose Kyte
1984
1984
Strikebound · as Idris Williams
1984
1983
Five Mile Creek (TV Series) · as Bill Curruthers
1983
Runaway Island (TV Series) · as Lucas The Ratter
1982
Going Down · as Bottom
1982
Ginger Meggs · as Captain Hook
1980
Secret Valley (TV Series) · as William Wopper
1980
1980
1979
Barnaby and Me · as Huggins
1979
Snapshot · as Linsey
1979
Mad Max · as Toecutter
1978
Blue Fin · as Stan
1978
1977
Chopper Squad (TV Series) · as Syd Tasker
1976
The Outsiders (1976) (TV Series) · as Doyle
1976
The Trespassers · as Frank
1976
1975
1974
Rush (1974) (TV Series) · as Tim Thomas
1974
Stone · as Toad

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