British actor Dave Legeno, who played a villain in the "Harry Potter" movies, is dead following a desert hiking outing in California. He was 50.

Legeno's body was found by two hikers early Sunday morning "in a remote wash" below Manly Beacon, which is located west of Death Valley's Zabriskie Point, officials from the Inyo County Sheriff's Department said Friday.

A California Highway Patrol helicopter was called in to remove the body.

Inyo County officials said an autopsy has been performed and the cause of death is heat stroke.

The British actor is known for playing the role of the lycanthrope villain, Fenrir Greyback, in the "Harry Potter" series. He first joined Daniel Radcliffe and the rest of the cast in 2009 for the series' sixth installment, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

He then returned for part one and part two of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," and also lent his voice to some of the franchise's video games. Legeno's other acting credits include "Snatch," "Batman Begins," "Snow White and the Hunstman," "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," and the television series "Borgia."

Legeno was also a former bouncer who had experience in wrestling and boxing. He took up mixed martial arts as a profession at the age of 42 and went by the ring name of The Enforcer, with a professional record of 4-3, according to TMZ.

The actor is survived by a daughter, who is in her 20s.