Karyo played a number of dark and violent characters during his career and is best known for his roles as a hunter in "The Bear" from 1988 and as Anne Parillaud's mentor in Luc Besson's "Nikita" in 1990.
Besson also gave him roles in "Jeanne d'Arc" in 1999 and in "Kiss of the Dragon" in 2001.
In 2010 he appeared in the Swedish drama film "Änglavakt", where he played opposite, among others, Michael Nyqvist and Izabella Scorupco.
Karyo and Scorupco also both appeared in the 1995 Bond film "Goldeneye", where Karyo played the Russian Minister of Defense.
Tchéky Karyo was born in October 1953 in Istanbul and made his film debut in 1982 in Chantal Akerman's "Toute une nuit". In recent years, he played one of the main roles in the Franco-British television series "Missing" opposite Keeley Hawes and James Nesbitt.
