
Died at 79
male
Hugh Keays-Byrne (May 18, 1947 – December 2, 2020) was a British-Australian actor and film director. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was best known for playing the main antagonist in two films from the Mad Max franchise: Toecutter in Mad Max (1979), and Immortan Joe in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). He also played Toad in the 1974 biker film Stone, and Grunchlk on the science fiction series Farscape. Keays-Byrne was born in Srinagar, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir (part of the British Raj then, India now) to British parents; his family returned to Britain when India was partitioned. He began his career as a stage actor. Keays-Byrne made his first television appearance in 1967 on the British television programme Boy Meets Girl. He was part of Peter Brook's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Royal Shakespeare Company, which toured Australia in 1973. Keays-Byrne decided to remain in Australia after the tour ended. In 1974, he acted in the TV movie Essington, then made his first film appearance in the motorcycle picture Stone (1974). This was followed by supporting roles in films like The Man from Hong Kong (1975), Mad Dog Morgan (1976), The Trespassers (1976) and Snapshot (1979). After his first starring role in the 1978 TV movie Death Train, Keays-Byrne was cast as the violent gang leader Toecutter in Mad Max (1979). Director George Miller had Keays-Byrne and the other actors for the gang travel from Sydney to Melbourne in a group on motorcycles, as there was no money for airplane tickets. In an early international print of the film, Keays-Byrne was dubbed with a bad American accent, which Miller later regretted. Keays-Byrne then continued to act in post-apocalyptic and science fiction films like The Chain Reaction (1980), Strikebound (1984), Starship (1985) and The Blood of Heroes (1989). In 1992, he made his directorial debut and acted in the film Resistance. He also appeared in TV miniseries adaptations of Moby Dick (1998) and Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1999). Keays-Byrne played Grunchlk in the science fiction television series Farscape (1999–2003) and its conclusion Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (2004). George Miller also cast him as the Martian Manhunter in the planned 2009 movie Justice League: Mortal. Keays-Byrne returned to the Mad Max franchise in the 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road as the main villain Immortan Joe. The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, winning 6, and Keays-Byrne was nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. Description above from the Wikipedia article Hugh Keays-Byrne, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

The time is long ago, where the people were known as tribes of the Earth Goddess. & the Sessair, exile a young man (For embarrassing his chieftain) out into the wilds of Tir-Nan-Og. His name is Slaine, only accompanied by his trusty axe, Brain-biter & a unscrupulous Dwarf named Ukko. Before his banishment, Slaine was newly inducted into the Red Branch where he found out that he was warped by the special gift of the Earth Mother. This has to be seen to be believed. They both embark on a series of adventures, where they discover evil Sorceror's Lord Weird Slough Feg's plans to flood the northern lands. They procure a dragon while meeting a young witch named Nest and ride off together to warn the druids. Along the way they make a stop at the eternal fortress of Snowdonia to visit Myrddin. Who is currently under attack by his relatives, the Cythrons who drag our adventures down into Cythrawl. Adventures ensue and they make it out alive. Myrddin awards them with the Cauldron of Blood with which Slaine can safely return to his tribe. For they need a knew chieftain. They fly to Slaine's home and guess who gets to be king. More adventures ensue..... I forgot to mention Niamh, Slaine's reason for being booted from the tribe. She has a special something for him when they next meet.


