Hugh Keays-Byrne AKA Immortan Joe Of Mad Max: Fury Road Passes Away Aged 73

Veteran actor Hugh Keays-Byrne is no more. The actor, most famously known for playing the villain Immortan Joe in Mad Max: Fury Road and Toecutter in the 1979 Mad Max film, passed away on Tuesday. The actor was 73. A representative for the actor told Deadline that he died peacefully on Tuesday morning. Director Brian Trenchard-Smith confirmed the sad news of Hugh Keays-Byrne’s demise via a Facebook post on Wednesday. Brian Trenchard-Smith had worked with the actor for the 1975 film 'The Man from Hong Kong'.

Paying a tribute in his Facebook post, Brian Trenchard-Smith wrote, “Hugh had a generous heart, offering a helping hand to people in need, or a place to stay to a homeless teenager. He cared about social justice and preserving the environment long before these issues became fashionable. His life was governed by his sense of the oneness of humanity. We will miss his example and his friendship. Vale, Hugh.”

Hugh Keays-Byrne was born in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir in India, to British parents. The actor was a young child when his family moved to Britain. The actor began his acting career in Australia and while he played several roles through the years, he shot to fame with George Miller’s Mad Max in 1979. After more than thirty years, George Miller asked Keays-Byrne to return once again to the world of ‘Mad Max’, and he was then seen as Immortan Joe in Mad Max: Fury Road, starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.

His co-actor Charlize Theron took to Twitter and expressed her grief at Hugh Keays-Byrne’s demise. She wrote, “RIP Hugh Keays-Byrne. It's amazing you were able to play an evil warlord so well cause you were such a kind, beautiful soul. You will be deeply missed my friend.”