Kjell Nilsson obit

'Mad Max'

Kjell Nilsson Dead at 76 

He was not on the list.

Kjell Nilsson, who played Lord Humungus in the classic "Mad Max 2" film, has died.

Chris Carbaugh, Kjell's rep, tells TMZ ... the actor died Thursday in Queensland, Australia, surrounded by family after a four-year battle with kidney disease.

The Swedish-born Kjell was an Olympic-class weightlifter ... which came in handy when he was cast as the terrifying, metal-masked Lord Humungus in "Mad Max 2" -- known in America as "The Road Warrior."

Kjell appeared in several other films ... but he was best known for 'Mad Max.'

Chris tells TMZ ... Kjell was a wonderful person who inspired many as a weight-training coach. He loved the 'Mad Max' fans and embraced the role.

Nilsson was an Olympic-class weight lifter who was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He moved to Australia in 1980 to train Swedish athletes for the Moscow Olympics. In Australia, he met actress Kate Ferguson, and they married in Sweden. She persuaded him to return to Australia and to look for work in the Australian film industry.

In the 1981 post-apocalyptic science fiction action film Mad Max 2 (also known as Mad Max: The Road Warrior), he played the main antagonist "Lord Humungus", the leader of a gang of marauders that besiege a settler compound in the Australian wastelands. He leads a rag-tag band of biker-berserkers, and he gives speeches to the settlers exhorting them to surrender, while utilizing psychological warfare. Time magazine's Richard Corliss stated that in Nilsson's portrayal, "malevolence courses through his huge pectorals, [and] pulses visibly under his bald, sutured scalp."

A year later, he appeared in The Pirate Movie (1982), a musical and comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Christopher Atkins and Kristy McNichol. In 1984, he had a role in the TV movie Man of Letters, and in 1987, he played the role of a nurse in The Edge of Power.

 

He was 76.

 

RIP

 

Actor

Kjell Nilsson, Aaron Kearney, Jayden Caulfield, and Sarah Mudle in Howlin' Refrain (2023)

Howlin' Refrain

7.7

Bronson

2023

 

The Edge of Power (1989)

The Edge of Power

4.9

Jorma

1989

 

Hard Knuckle (1988)

Hard Knuckle

5.3

TV Movie

The Bouncer

1988

 

Sons and Daughters (1982)

Sons and Daughters

6.1

TV Series

Mike Thurgood

1985

2 episodes

 

Man of Letters (1984)

Man of Letters

TV Movie

Male Nurse

1984

 

Stanley: Every Home Should Have One (1984)

Stanley: Every Home Should Have One

6.4

Athletic Club Attendant

1984

 

Christopher Atkins, Kristy McNichol, Ted Hamilton, Bill Kerr, Garry McDonald, and Chuck McKinney in The Pirate Movie (1982)

The Pirate Movie

5.4

Pirate

1982

 

The Road Warrior (1981)

The Road Warrior

7.6

The Humungus

1981