Tchéky Karyo, James Bond actor and star of BBC thrillers, dies aged 72

Very sad news.

In a statement, the actor's wife and children told the news agency AFP that he had "succumbed to cancer this Friday, October 31". The performer was 72.

Born in Turkey but having grown up in France, Karyo was best known to UK and Irish audiences for his role as French detective Julien Baptiste in the BBC's hit mystery crime thriller The Missing.

Premiering in 2014, the first season of The Missing saw Baptiste lead the investigation into the disappearance of the young son of a British couple (Frances O'Connor and James Nesbitt). This was while the family holidayed in France.

A second season saw Baptiste become involved in a new case, this time involving the abduction of a young girl in Germany, where her father (David Morrissey) was stationed on a British Army base.

The Missing spawned a spin-off titled Baptiste, which fully centred on Karyo's character and ran for two more seasons.

The French actor also collaborated again with Baptiste and The Missing creators Harry and Jack Williams on another BBC thriller show titled Boat Story.

An early breakthrough role for Karyo was director Luc Besson's 1990 action thriller La Femme Nikita. The film revolves around a woman, Nikita (Anne Parillaud), who is jailed for killing a police officer during a robbery but is later recruited by the government to work as an assassin.

Karyo played Nikita's spy handler in the hit movie, which later got a US remake.

Tchéky Karyo in Baptiste

After La Femme Nikita, Karyo started booking roles in high-profile Hollywood films, such as Ridley Scott's 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Michael Bay's Bad Boys, Roland Emmerich's The Patriot and Neil Jordan's The Good Thief.

He also played a Russian Minister in Pierce Brosnan's first James Bond outing GoldenEye, and reunited with Besson for his 1999 Joan of Arc biopic starring Milla Jovovich and for his 2001 action flick Kiss of the Dragon.

Other noteworthy roles of Karyo's include the films Addicted to Love, The Core, Crying Freeman, Doberman, La Balance, Mary Magdalene, Nostradamus and Taking Lives, as well as the shows Liaison, In the Name of the Rose and ZeroZeroZero.