Hugh Keays-Byrne

Actors

Hugh Keays-Byrne (May 18, 1947 – December 2, 2020) was an Anglo-Australian actor and director. He moved to Australia in 1973 and worked there as a television and film actor. He is best remembered as the main antagonist Toecutter in George Miller‘s Mad Max (1979), with Mel Gibson; and Immortan Joe in Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), with Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.

Other notable roles include Stone (1974), Mad Dog Morgan (1976), with Dennis Hopper; Werner Herzog‘s Where Ants Go to Dream (1984), with Bruce Spence (who was in the Mad Max films The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome); For Love Alone (1986), with Helen Buday, Hugo Weaving and Sam Neill; Kangaroo (1987), with Colin Friels, Judy Davis, and John Walton; The Blood of Heroes (1989), with Rutger Hauer, Joan Chen, and Vincent D’Onofrio; and Sleeping Beauty (2011), with Emily Browning.

TV roles include the TV movies Polly My Love (1975), with Jackie Weaver; Barnaby and Me (1979), with Sid Caesar and Juliet Mills; Badlands 2005 (1988), with Lewis Smith, Miguel Ferrer, and Sharon Stone; Dadah Is Death (1988), with Julie Christie, Weaving, and Sarah Jessica Parker; Mr. Stubbs in the miniseries Moby Dick (1998), with Patrick Stewart, Henry Thomas, Gregory Peck, and Ted Levine; Grunchlk on the science fiction television series Farscape (1999-2001) and the miniseries followup Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (2004).

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • Stone (1974) – directed by Sandy Harbutt
  • Essington (1974) – directed by Julian Pringle – TV movie
  • The Man from Hong Kong (1975) – directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith – aka The Dragon Files
  • Polly My Love (1975) – directed by Peter Maxwell – TV movie
  • Mad Dog Morgan (1976) – directed by Philippe Mora
  • The Trespassers (1976) – directed by John Duigan
  • The Cake Man (1977) – directed by Douglas Sharp – TV movie
  • The Tree (1977) – directed by Ian Stocks – short
  • Say You Want Me (1977) – directed by Oliver Howes – TV movie
  • The Death Train (1978) – directed by Igor Auzins – TV movie
  • The Tichborne Affair (1978) – directed by Carl Schultz – TV movie
  • Blue Fin (1978) – directed by Carl Schultz
  • Mad Max (1979) – directed by George Miller
  • Snapshot (1979) – directed by Simon Wincer – aka The Day After Halloween and One More Minute
  • Barnaby and Me (1979) – directed by Norman Panama – TV movie
  • The Chain Reaction (1980) – directed by Ian Barry
  • Ginger Meggs (1982) – directed by Jonathan Dawson
  • Runaway Island (1982) – directed by Igor Auzins – TV movie
  • Going Down (1983) – directed by Haydn Keenan
  • Where the Green Ants Dream (1984) – directed by Werner Herzog
  • Strikebound (1984) – directed by Richard Lowenstein
  • Lorca and the Outlaws (1984) – directed by Roger Christian aka Starship and 2084
  • Burke & Wills (1985) – directed by Graeme Clifford,
  • For Love Alone (1986) – directed by Stephen Wallace
  • Kangaroo (1987) – directed by Tim Burstall
  • Treasure Island (1987) – directed by Warwick Gilbert – TV movie
  • Les Patterson Saves the World (1987) – directed by George T. Miller
  • Badlands 2005 (1988) – directed by George T. Miller – TV movie
  • Dadah Is Death (1988) – directed by Jerry London – TV movie
  • The Blood of Heroes (1989) – directed by David Webb Peoples – aka The Salute of the Juggers
  • Resistance (1992) – also co-directed with Paul Elliott
  • Asian Connection: Old Flames (1995) – directed by Michael Carson – TV movie
  • Moby Dick (1998) – directed by Franc Roddam – miniseries
  • Journey to the Center of the Earth (1999) – directed by George T. Miller – miniseries
  • Huntsman 5.1 (1999) – directed by Brent Houghton
  • Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (2004) – directed by Brian Henson – miniseries
  • Sleeping Beauty (2011) – directed by Julia Leigh
  • Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)* – directed by George Miller