Byrne was born in London, England. He has sometimes been cast in Nazimilitary roles such as Colonel Vogel in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Major Schroeder in Force 10 from Navarone, Reinhard Beck in The Scarlet and the Black, General Olbricht in The Plot to Kill Hitler and Obergruppenführer Odilo Globocnik in the BBC radio dramatisation of the novel Fatherland by Robert Harris. Also seen as the aged but fanatical SS General Neurath in "Outpost 2 - Black Sun", former concentration camp commandant and involved in the Nazis's sinister reality-shifting experiments. Byrne appeared as a Jewish concentration camp survivor who is instrumental in the capture of a Nazi war criminal (played by Ian McKellen) in the film Apt Pupil. He is also familiar to audiences as Smythe, a soldier who attempts to rape William Wallace's wife and first inspires Wallace to seek independence from England in the film Braveheart. His other film credits include The Eagle Has Landed, A Bridge Too Far, The Medusa Touch, The Saint, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Good Father, The Sum of All Fears, Gangs of New York and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. On television, he has appeared in Z-Cars, Secret Army, Tales of the Unexpected, The Professionals, The Devil's Crown,Smiley's People, Yes, Prime Minister, Lord Mountbatten - the Last Viceroy, Between The Lines, Sharpe, The Mists of Avalon, Waking the Dead, The Body Farm, Honest, Hamish Macbeth, and Casualty. From April 2008 to January 2010, Michael starred in Coronation Street, as Ted Page, Gail Platt's long lost father and the ex-lover of Audrey Roberts. It is not known whether he will return to the show. Byrne appeared in State of Play at the Edinburgh Festival written by Zia Trench. He played Romeo to Siân Phillips' Juliet at the Bristol Old Vic. Father of actress Allie Byrne.

伯恩出生于英国伦敦。他有时会出演纳粹军事角色，例如《印第安纳琼斯》和《最后的十字军东征》中的沃格尔上校、《纳瓦罗内》第 10 部队中的施罗德少校、《猩红与黑色》中的莱因哈德·贝克、《杀死希特勒的阴谋》中的奥尔布里希特将军和罗伯特·哈里斯 （Robert Harris） 的 BBC 广播剧《祖国》中的奥迪洛·格洛博尼克。在《前哨2-黑太阳》中也被视为年迈但狂热的党卫军将军纽拉特，前集中营指挥官，参与了纳粹险恶的现实转换实验。伯恩在电影《Apt Pupil》中以犹太集中营幸存者的身份出现，他在抓获纳粹战犯（由伊恩·麦凯伦饰演）方面发挥了重要作用。在电影《勇敢的心》中，他也为观众所熟悉的史密斯，他是一名试图强奸威廉·华莱士妻子的士兵，并首次激励华莱士寻求从英国独立。他的其他电影作品包括《老鹰降落》、《太远的桥》、《美杜莎之触》、《圣徒》、《明日永不消逝》、《好父亲》、《所有恐惧的总和》、《纽约黑帮》和《哈利波特与死亡圣器第 1 部分》。在电视上，他曾出演过 Z-Cars、Secret Army、Tales of the Unexpected、The Professionals、The Devil's Crown、Smiley's People、Yes， Prime Minister、Lord Mountbatten - the Last Viceroy、Between The Lines、Sharpe、The Mists of Avalon、Waking the Dead、The Body Farm、Honest、Hamish Macbeth 和 Casualty。从2008年4月到2010年1月，迈克尔出演了《加冕街》，饰演盖尔·普拉特失散多年的父亲、奥黛丽·罗伯茨的前情人泰德·佩奇。目前尚不清楚他是否会重返节目。伯恩出现在爱丁堡音乐节的《State of Play》中，由Zia Trench撰写。他在布里斯托尔老维克剧院扮演西恩·菲利普斯的朱丽叶的罗密欧，女演员艾莉·伯恩的父亲。