Tchéky Karyo

Tchéky Karyo
Karyo in 2013
Born	(1953-10-04) 4 October 1953 Istanbul, Turkey
Occupation(s)	Actor, musician
Years active	1982 – present
Spouse	Isabelle Pasco (m.1995, divorced)
Partner	Valérie Kéruzoré
Children	2

Tchéky Karyo (French: [tʃeki kɑʁjo]; born 4 October 1953) is a Turkish-born French actor and musician who is known for playing leading French police investigator Julien Baptiste in the British drama The Missing (2014) and its spin-off series Baptiste (2019). Beginning his career as an actor on stage in classical and contemporary works, he began to work as a character actor in films in the 1980s. He has acted in numerous films by Hollywood and French directors, including Luc Besson.

Early life

He was named Baruh Djaki Karyo at birth in 1953 in Istanbul, Turkey; his mother was Greek Jewish and his father was from a Turkish Jewish family with ancestral roots in Spain (Sephardic Jewish). When he was young, his family moved to Paris, France, where he grew up. The spelling of his name, Djaki, was changed to Tchéky in a form of French transliteration. As a young man, Karyo studied drama at the Cyrano Theatre and later became a member of the Daniel Sorano Company, playing many classical roles.

Career

Karyo at the 17th César Awards, 1992

Karyo joined the National Theatre of Strasbourg, where he starred in both contemporary and classical plays. He found success in French films beginning in the 1980s, first as a character actor. He later appeared in leading roles in several notable films, such as The Bear, in which he played one of the hunters, and director Luc Besson's Nikita, in which he played the heroine's spy mentor.

He has participated in many Hollywood movies, often portraying a French character, in the same fashion as Jean Reno. His movie credits include 1994's Nostradamus in which he plays the famous French prophet, and 1995's Bad Boys opposite Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in which he plays a criminal named Fouchet. He also appeared alongside Jet Li in Kiss of the Dragon (2001) as a corrupt and violent Paris police detective. He has acted in prominent roles in major films set during wartime. Such performances include his acting as a vengeful French officer alongside Mel Gibson in The Patriot (2000), set during the American Revolutionary War, and his role as Jean de Dunois in The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. In the DVD edition of The Patriot, Karyo overdubbed his own lines on the French-language track. He appeared in Martin Sheen's film The Way (2010) as Captain Henri.

In 2014 and 2016 Karyo appeared as Julien Baptiste in the acclaimed BBC One/Starz drama series The Missing. He has received critical praise for his performance.

In April 2018, it was confirmed by BBC that Tchéky Karyo would reprise his role as Julien Baptiste in a spin-off series titled Baptiste, to be written by Jack and Harry Williams. The new six-episode series began on 17 February 2019.

Karyo is also a musician and songwriter. In 2006 he released the album Ce lien qui nous unit (English: "The link that binds us"), and released Credo in 2013 on his 60th birthday.

Awards

He was nominated for a César Award for Most Promising Actor for his role in La Balance. In 1986, he was awarded the Jean Gabin Prize in recognition of his acting performances.

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Language	Director
1982	The Return of Martin Guerre	Augustin	French	Daniel Vigne
	La Balance	Petrovic	French	Bob Swaim
1983	Le Marginal	Francis Pierron	French	Jacques Deray
1984	Full Moon in Paris	Remi	French	Éric Rohmer
1985	L'amour braque	Micky	French	Andrzej Zulawski
1986	Bleu comme l'enfer	Frank	French	Yves Boisset
1987	Sorceress	Étienne de Bourbon	French	Suzanne Schiffman
1988	The Bear	Tom	English	Jean-Jacques Annaud
1989	Australia	Julien Pierson	French	Jean-Jacques Andrien
1990	Nikita	Bob	French	Luc Besson
	Vincent and Me	Vincent van Gogh	French	Michael Rubbo
1991	A Grande Arte (American title: Exposure)	Hermes	English	Walter Salles
	Isabelle Eberhardt	Slimene	English	Ian Pringle
	Husband and Lovers	Paolo	English	Mauro Bolognini
1992	1492: Conquest of Paradise	Martín Alonso Pinzón	English	Ridley Scott
	L'Atlantide	Lieutenant Morhange	French	Bob Swaim
	Sketch Artist	Paul Korbel	English	Phedon Papamichael
1993	And the Band Played On	Willy Rozenbaum	English	Roger Spottiswoode
1994	La Cité de la peur	Monsieur Jacques, the first projectionist	French	Alain Berbérian
	Nostradamus	Nostradamus	English	Roger Christian
1995	Colpo di luna	Lorenzo	Italian	Alberto Simone
	Crying Freeman	Detective Netah	English	Christophe Gans
	Bad Boys	Fouchet	English	Michael Bay
	GoldenEye	Russian Minister of Defence Dmitri Mishkin	English	Martin Campbell
	Foreign Land	Kraft	Portuguese	Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas
	Operation Dumbo Drop	Goddard	English	Simon Wincer
1996	To Have & to Hold	Jack	English	John Hillcoat
1997	Dobermann	Inspecteur Sauveur Cristini	French	Jan Kounen
	Habitat	Hank Symes	English	René Daalder
	Addicted to Love	Anton	English	Griffin Dunne
1998	From the Earth to the Moon (miniseries)	Georges Méliès	English	(various)
	Let There Be Light	Harper	French	Arthur Joffé
1999	My Life So Far	Gabriel Chenoux	English	Hugh Hudson
	The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc	Jean de Dunois	English	Luc Besson
	Wing Commander	Commodore James "Paladin" Taggart	English	Chris Roberts
2000	Arabian Nights	Black Coda	English	Steve Barron
	Le Roi danse	Molière	French	Gérard Corbiau
	Saving Grace	Jacques Chevalier	English	Nigel Cole
	The Patriot	Major Jean Villeneuve	English	Roland Emmerich
2001	Kiss of the Dragon	Inspecteur Jean-Pierre Richard	English	Chris Nahon
2002	The Good Thief	Roger	English	Neil Jordan
2003	The Core	Serge	English	Jon Amiel
2004	A Very Long Engagement	Captain Etienne Favourier	French	Jean-Pierre Jeunet
	Taking Lives	Hugo Leclair	English	D. J. Caruso
	Blueberry	the uncle	English	Jan Kounen
2005	Les Rois maudits (miniseries)	Philip IV of France	French	Josée Dayan
2006	The Gravedancers	Vincent Cochet	English	Mike Mendez
2007	Jacquou le Croquant	the Chevalier	French	Laurent Boutonnat
	Boxes	Jean	French	Jane Birkin
	The Lark Farm	Aram	English	Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
2009	A Man and His Dog	the guitar player in the park	French	Francis Huster
	Kaamelott (TV series)	Manius Macrinus Firmus (episode 7)	French	Alexandre Astier
2010	The Way	Captain Henri	English	Emilio Estevez
2011	A Gang Story	Serge Suttel	French	Olivier Marchal
	Forces spéciales	Guezennec	French	Stéphane Rybojad
2012	No Limit (TV Series)	Koskas	French	(various)
	Pieces of Me	Edern	French	Nolwenn Lemesle
2013	Jappeloup	Marcel Rozier	French	Christian Duguay
	Belle and Sebastian	César	French	Nicolas Vanier
2014	The Missing, Series 1 (TV Series)	Julien Baptiste	English	Tom Shankland
2015	Through the Air	Armand Cavelle	French	Fred Grivois
	Belle & Sebastian: The Adventure Continues	César	French	Christian Duguay
2016	The Missing, Series 2 (TV Series)	Julien Baptiste	English	Ben Chanan
2019	Baptiste (TV series)	Julien Baptiste	English	Börkur SigÞórrson
2019	The Name of the Rose	Pope John XXII	English	Giacomo Battiato

Music videos

• 1992 : "Born On The Wrong Side Of Town" Jaye Muller(J.) (directed by Jean Baptiste Mondino)
• 2005 : "L'avenir est à nous" Kool Shen feat Rohff & Dadoo (directed by J.G Biggs)

External links

• Tchéky Karyo at IMDb
• Tchéky Karyo at ECI Global Talent Management