Byrne was born in London, England. He has sometimes been cast in Nazimilitary roles such as Colonel Vogel in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Major Schroeder in Force 10 from Navarone, Reinhard Beck in The Scarlet and the Black, General Olbricht in The Plot to Kill Hitler and Obergruppenführer Odilo Globocnik in the BBC radio dramatisation of the novel Fatherland by Robert Harris. Also seen as the aged but fanatical SS General Neurath in Outpost 2 - Black Sun, former concentration camp commandant and involved in the Naziss sinister reality-shifting experiments. Byrne appeared as a Jewish concentration camp survivor who is instrumental in the capture of a Nazi war criminal (played by Ian McKellen) in the film Apt Pupil. He is also familiar to audiences as Smythe, a soldier who attempts to rape William Wallaces wife and first inspires Wallace to seek independence from England in the film Braveheart. His other film credits include The Eagle Has Landed, A Bridge Too Far, The Medusa Touch, The Saint, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Good Father, The Sum of All Fears, Gangs of New York and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. On television, he has appeared in Z-Cars, Secret Army, Tales of the Unexpected, The Professionals, The Devils Crown,Smileys People, Yes, Prime Minister, Lord Mountbatten - the Last Viceroy, Between The Lines, Sharpe, The Mists of Avalon, Waking the Dead, The Body Farm, Honest, Hamish Macbeth, and Casualty. From April 2008 to January 2010, Michael starred in Coronation Street, as Ted Page, Gail Platts long lost father and the ex-lover of Audrey Roberts. It is not known whether he will return to the show. Byrne appeared in State of Play at the Edinburgh Festival written by Zia Trench. He played Romeo to Siân Phillips Juliet at the Bristol Old Vic. Father of actress Allie Byrne.
Demosthenes
Film 1981
Playboy
Film 1974
Duff
Film 1978
Dieter Creutz
Film 1995
Clitheroe
Film 1992
Bolek
Film 1997
Guy Preger
Film 1985
Neurath
Film 2012
Henry Straker
Film 1982
Reg Nuttall
Film 1974
The Artist
Film 1969
Sir Charles Harwood
Film 2015
Duke of Alencon
Film 1983
John Hume / Lieutenant
Film 1983
Marquess of Montague / Father that killed his son
Film 1983
Duke of Buckingham
Film 1983
Film 1974
Octave
Film 1991
Roger
Film 1963
Andrew Norton
Film 2022
Claudio
Film 1967
Film 1974
Oliver Mather
Film 1998
Mr. Carruthers
Film 1999
Blank/German/Old Geezer
Film 1994
Bryden Thomas
Film 1995
Patrick
Film 1998
Monk (uncredited)
Film 1976
Volmar
Film 1994
Venables
Film 1997
Clarke
Film 1975
Richard Lovell
Film 1975
Archie Saunders
Film 2003
Emil Wetterstedt
Film 2004
Keller
Film 2018
Richard
Film 2014
Chorus
Film 1986
Bruce
Film 1975
Michael
Film 2018
Gunnar Wedelman
Film 1979
Inquisitor
Film 1994
Antonio
Film 1983
Lange
Film 1998
Major Nairn
Film 1994
Werner Von Ebrennac
Film 1980
Commissioner Keller
Film 2019
Richard Lovell
Tv 1973
Captain Keene
Tv 1998
Major Nairn
Tv 1993
Tv 2002
Tv 2004
Tv 1984
Patrick Marney
Tv 1979
Alex Ormrod
Tv 1992
Tv 1996
Tv 1992
Officer (uncredited)
Tv 1997
Tv 1972
Joe Brackley
Tv 2001
David Stanley
Tv 1980
Cicero
Tv 2005
Tv 1986
Tv 1970
Tv 1986
Peter Guillam
Tv 1982
Tv 1974
Tv 1999
Tv 1978
Tv 1998
DCC Charles Griswold
Tv 1987
Paul Vercors
Tv 1977
Edward Baxendale
Tv 2013
Old Mullins
Tv 2023
Ebenezer Alsop
Tv 2016
Trevor's Father
Tv 1975
George Abell
Tv 1986
Ted Page
Tv 1960
Keith Grundy
Tv 1997
Russell
Tv 1970
Bruce
Tv 1970
Edward Marshall-Hall KC
Tv 1980
Edward Marshall-Hall
Tv 1980
Bishop Parsons
Tv 2016
Duncan Scott
Tv 1995
Werner Dreisinger
Tv 1977