Berkoff at 70

Berkoff appeared in Edward Albee's The Zoo Story (above) in 1965. His reputation as a bold actor and experimental playwright spread quickly with original works like 1975's East, presented at the Edinburgh festival. Photograph: John Minihan/Getty

In 1980, Berkoff played Hamlet at London's Roundhouse in a production that he staged with, in his own words, 'utter simplicity'. When Nicholas de Jongh gave Hamlet a bad review, Berkoff threatened to kill him. Photograph: Graham Morris/Getty

Berkoff appeared in several arthouse films in the 1970s including Kubrick's Barry Lyndon and Antonioni's The Passenger. In 1983, he enjoyed a box-office hit with the James Bond blockbuster Octopussy, in which he played a dastardly Russian general (above, with Louis Jordan). Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext

Another Hollywood baddie role ... Berkoff was working in a small LA theatre when he was cast in Beverly Hills Cop. He played the deadly Victor Maitland, who dealed both fine art and drugs - a ferocious adversary for Eddie Murphy's streetwise Detroit detective. Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive

In the 1980s, Berkoff combined his Hollywood outings with stage work including his plays Kvetch, West and a production of Shakespeare's Coriolanus. Photograph: Gemma Levine/Getty

Don't lose your head ... Berkoff rehearses for his role as Herod in his famous slow-motion production of Oscar Wilde's Salome in 1988. Photograph: Nobby Clark/Getty

In his one-man show Shakespeare's Villains, Berkoff offered an exploration of the Bard's famous baddies, including Iago, Richard III and Shylock. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Berkoff with Julie Cox in the sci-fi mini-series Children of Dune. Photograph: Cinetext/Allstar

In 2003, Berkoff starred in the movie Nine Dead Gay Guys. "Some misguidedly generous impulse led [him] to be associated with it," concluded critic Philip French. Photograph: Kobal

"Acting was my therapy," Berkoff once told the Observer. "A person can find themselves through acting - and escape themselves. Acting can release you and make you so much more aware of life." Photograph: Eamonn McCabe/Guardian