‘Harry Potter’ Actor Michael Byrne, Who Played the Imprisoned Grindelwald, Dies at 82
A piece of Wizarding World history has passed. Michael Byrne, the actor who played the elderly, imprisoned Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, has died at age 82.
Byrne appeared in the 2010 film during one of its most chilling scenes: Voldemort visiting the aging dark wizard in his Nurmengard cell, demanding to know the location of the Elder Wand. Grindelwald, defeated decades earlier in a duel with Albus Dumbledore, refuses to give it up. The role was later picked up by Colin Farrell, Johnny Depp, and Mads Mikkelsen across the Fantastic Beasts prequel series.
Byrne’s career stretched across seven decades and more than 160 credits. He trained at Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre alongside Maggie Smith, and went on to film roles in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (as Nazi Colonel Ernst Vogel), Braveheart, Tomorrow Never Dies, and Gangs of New York. British television audiences may also remember him as Ted Page, Gail Platt’s long-lost father, on Coronation Street from 2008 to 2010.
Byrne died on June 20. A cause of death has not been disclosed.
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Source: Variety
