Grindelwald from the Harry Potter films is dead
British actor Michael Byrne, also seen in Braveheart and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, has died at the age of 82.
Before Johnny Depp, then Mads Mikkelsen, played the formidable Gellert Grindelwald in the saga Fantastic Beastsit was Michael Byrne who lent his features to the powerful mage of the universe of Harry Potter.
The British actor died on June 20 at the age of 82. The cause of his death has not been communicated.
Michael Byrne played an elderly version of Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1released in 2010. We discovered him imprisoned in his cell when Voldemort came to find him in order to obtain information on the mythical Elder Wand. Refusing to reveal his location, Grindelwald was ultimately killed by the Dark Lord.
During a career spanning more than sixty years, Michael Byrne has participated in numerous prestigious productions. Fans of adventure cinema particularly remember him in the role of the sinister Vogel, the film’s sociopathic Nazi. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He also played the brutal nationalist soldier Smythe in Braveheartthe Oscar-winning film directed by Mel Gibson.
Born in London, Michael Byrne began his career on British television in the 1960s, before taking his first steps in cinema with The Scarlet Blade in 1963. By the 1970s he had specialized in war films with roles in A bridge too far, The Eagle has flown away And The Guns of Navarone 2.
