Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: No known aliases

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Kashmir, India

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 27

TV Involvements: 4


Most Famous Work

Biography

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.

Most Famous Work

Mad Max: Fury Road
Average
8

Mad Max: Fury Road

(2015) Immortan Joe
Farscape
Average
8

Farscape

(1999) Grunchlk
Mad Max
Average
7

Mad Max

(1979) Toecutter
Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars
Average
8
Sleeping Beauty
Average
5

Sleeping Beauty

(2011) Man 3
Moby Dick
Average
6

Moby Dick

(1998) Mr. Stubb
The Blood of Heroes
Average
6

The Blood of Heroes

(1989) Lord Vlle
The Man from Hong Kong
Average
7

The Man from Hong Kong

(1975) Morrie Grosse

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2017 Self
2016 Immortan Joe
2015 Self
Immortan Joe
2011 Man 3
2004 Grunchlk
1999 McNiff
Grunchlk
1998 Mr. Stubb
1992 Peter
1989 Lord Vlle
1988 Hammed
Moondance
1987 Inspector Farouk
(voice)
1986 Kangaroo
Andrew
1985 Ambrose Kyte
1984 Danny
Idris Williams
Mining Executive
1983 Bottom
1980 Eagle
1979 Linsey
Toecutter
1978 Stan
N/A
1977 Huggins
1976 Frank
Simon
1975 Morrie Grosse
N/A
1974 Toad
Self
Year Character Movie/Tv

Directing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1992 Director
Year Role Movie/Tv

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