It's a truly depressing week as another great cinematic villain passes away. Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played the terrifying Immortan Joe in Mad Max: Fury Road, has died at the age of 73.
The news was confirmed by Keays-Byrne's friend and longtime collaborator Brian Trenchard-Smith in an emotional Facebook post.
"I am sad to report that our friend Hugh Keays-Byrne passed away in hospital yesterday," Trenchard-Smith wrote. "A former Royal Shakespeare Company actor who settled in Australia co-starred in my Man From Hong Kong, and achieved worldwide recognition as the Toecutter in Mad Max, and Immortan Joe in Mad Max-Fury Road."
Trenchard-Smith pointed out that "Hugh had a generous heart, offering a helping hand to people in need, or a place to stay to a homeless teenager and that the actor "cared about social justice and preserving the environment long before these issues became fashionable."
Charlize Theron, who worked with Keays-Byrne in Fury Road, also paid tribute to her co-star on Twitter.
"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," Theron wrote.
Keays-Byrne started his acting career in the early 1960s. Although he is known in Australia for several notable projects, he was launched into worldwide fame when he took on the role of the villainous gang leader Toecutter in Mad Max. Keays-Byrne would later work with George Miller again, this time as Immortan Joe in Fury Road. He passed away on December 1, 2020.
Farewell, Hugh Keays-Byrne. You are awaited in Valhalla.