Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist dies after lung cancer battle

Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist, best known for a leading role in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Swedish film series, died in Sweden on Tuesday after a year-long battle with lung cancer, his representative said. He was 56.

Nyqvist "passed away quietly surrounded by family" in Stockholm, his spokeswoman Alissa Goodman said in an emailed statement that called him "one of Sweden's most respected and accomplished actors."

"Michael's joy and passion were infectious to those who knew and loved him. His charm and charisma were undeniable, and his love for the arts was felt by all who had the pleasure of working with him," the statement said.

Nyqvist rose to prominence as the complex investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist in film adaptations of Swedish author Stieg Larsson's gritty "Millennium" novel series that spawned "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" franchise.

More recently, he played menacing villains in Hollywood action films "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" and "John Wick."

Nyqvist made his debut as an author in 2010 with an autobiographical memoir "Just After Dreaming," which detailed his quest to find his biological parents three decades after he was adopted as a baby.

The actor is survived by his wife and two children.