Michael Lonsdale
Michael Edward Lonsdale Crouch[1] (24 May 1931 – 21 September 2020), commonly known as Michael Lonsdale and sometimes as Michel Lonsdale, was a French actor and author who appeared in over 180 films and television shows.[4] He is best known in the English-speaking world for his roles as the villain Hugo Drax in the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker,[5] the detective Claude Lebel in The Day of the Jackal, The Abbot in The Name of the Rose and Dupont d'Ivry in The Remains of the Day.
Michael Lonsdale | |
---|---|
![]() Lonsdale in 2013 | |
Born | 24 May 1931 Paris, France |
Died | 21 September 2020 89) Paris, France | (aged
Other names | Michel Lonsdale |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1955–2016[3] |
Early life and education
Lonsdale was born in Paris, the natural son of British Army officer Edward Lonsdale Crouch and Simone Calderon (née Béraud).[6][1] He was brought up initially on the island of Jersey,[7] then in London from 1935, and later, during the Second World War, in Casablanca, Morocco.[8]
Career
He returned to Paris to study painting in 1947, but was drawn into the world of acting instead, first appearing on stage at the age of 24.[8][9] Lonsdale was bilingual, and appeared in both English-language and French-language productions. He appeared in a starring role with Roger Moore in the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker.[10] and with Sean Connery, in the 1984 film The Name of the Rose. He would later appear in Munich, a film that also starred another Bond, Daniel Craig.
In February 2011, he won a César Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Of Gods and Men.[4]
Lonsdale was also the author of ten books.[4]
Personal life and death
In his 2016 memoir Le Dictionnaire de Ma Vie, Lonsdale revealed he had fallen for Delphine Seyrig, having met her as a student in Tania Balachova's acting classes at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in 1947. He wrote that "it was her or nothing", which was why he never married.[11]
Lonsdale died in Paris on 21 September 2020, aged 89.[12][4]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1956 | It Happened in Aden | Sinclair | ||
1960 | La main chaude | Nobert | [13] | |
Les portes claquent | Georges Hortegrenave | |||
1962 | Adorable Liar | Albert | [13] | |
Le Crime ne paie pas | L'employé de la morgue | (segment "L'homme de l'avenue"), Uncredited | ||
La dénonciation | Mercier | [13] | ||
Snobs! | Charles Dufaut | [13] | ||
The Trial | Priest | [14] | ||
1964 | Behold a Pale Horse | Reporter | [13] | |
Jealous as a Tiger | L'automobiliste qui grimace | [13] | ||
1965 | Les copains | Lamenbin | [13] | |
Je vous salue, mafia! | Hyman | [13] | ||
1966 | Your Money or Your Life | Le conférencier au club des timides | [13] | |
Is Paris Burning? | Debu-Bridel | Uncredited | [15] | |
Judoka-Secret Agent | Thomas Perkins | |||
Le fer à repasser | ||||
1967 | Les compagnons de la marguerite | Lastac / Lataque, expert en écritures / La voix du juge d'instruction | [13] | |
L'authentique procès de Carl-Emmanuel Jung | Un avocat | [13] | ||
1968 | L'homme à la Buick | L'inspecteur / The inspector | [13] | |
The Bride Wore Black | René Morane | [14] | ||
Stolen Kisses | Georges Tabard | [14] | ||
La grande lessive! | Delaroche | [13] | ||
1969 | Hibernatus | Professor Edouard Lauriebat | [13] | |
Détruire, dit-elle | Stein | [14] | ||
L'hiver | Julien & Marc | [13] | ||
1970 | L'étalon | Both | [13] | |
Le revolver et la rose | Philippe de la Tour / Dimitri Korkesky | |||
1971 | Le printemps | L'homme qui fuit | [13] | |
Le Souffle au cœur | Father Henri | [14] | ||
Les assassins de l'ordre | Inspector Bertrand | [13] | ||
Out 1 | Thomas | [14] | ||
Papa les petits bateaux... | Hippolyte | [13] | ||
Jaune le soleil | Un juif | [13] | ||
1972 | The Old Maid | Monod | [13] | |
Il était une fois un flic... | Le commissaire Lucas | [13] | ||
Chut! | Sergel | [13] | ||
L'automne | Julien, le réalisateur | [13] | ||
Out 1: Spectre | Thomas | [13] | ||
1973 | The Day of the Jackal | Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel | [14] | |
La fille au violoncelle | Philippe Lariel | [13] | ||
Les grands sentiments font les bons gueuletons | Stéphane | [13] | ||
1974 | Successive Slidings of Pleasure | The Judge | [14] | |
La grande Paulette | Paul | |||
Stavisky | Docteur Mézy | By Alain Resnais | [14] | |
La vérité sur l'imaginaire passion d'un inconnu | Le reporter TV / Ponce Pilate | [13] | ||
Une baleine qui avait mal aux dents | Le peintre | [13] | ||
Caravan to Vaccares | Duc de Croyter | [13] | ||
The Phantom of Liberty | Le chapelier / Hatter | [14] | ||
Un linceul n'a pas de poches | Raymond | [13] | ||
The Suspects | Le juge Souftries | [13] | ||
1975 | Serious as Pleasure | L'inspecteur Fournier / Inspector Fournier | [13] | |
Galileo | Cardinal Barberini, later Pope Urban VIII | [14] | ||
Aloïse | The second doctor | [13] | ||
Section spéciale | Le ministre de l'intérieur Pierre Pucheu | [13] | ||
La traque | David Sutter | [13] | ||
The Romantic Englishwoman | Swan | [14] | ||
India Song | Le vice-consul de Lahore | [14] | ||
Folle à tuer | Stéphane Mostri | [13] | ||
Le téléphone rose | Morrison | [13] | ||
Ne | ||||
1976 | Scrambled Eggs | Le Président de la République | [13] | |
Mr. Klein | Pierre | [14] | ||
Son nom de Venise dans Calcutta désert | Récitant | Voice | [13] | |
Bartleby | L'huissier | [13] | ||
L'Eden Palace | Raoul | |||
1977 | Le diable dans la boîte | Georges Aubert | [13] | |
L'adieu nu | Boris / The visitor | |||
The Accuser | Abéraud | [13] | ||
The Left-Handed Woman | Kellner | [13] | ||
Aurais dû faire gaffe... le choc est terrible | ||||
Une sale histoire | Documentray | [14] | ||
Jacques Prévert | Himself | |||
1979 | The Passage | Alain Renoudot | [13] | |
Moonraker | Hugo Drax | [14] | ||
Ève avait l'éclat métallique de l'été | ||||
1980 | Seuls | Le peintre | [13] | |
Ella, une vraie famille | Le comédien studio d'enregistrement | |||
1981 | The Bunker | Martin Bormann | TV movie | [13] |
Chariots of Fire | Garth Jones | [13] | ||
Les jeux de la Comtesse Dolingen de Gratz | Bertrand Haines-Pearson | [13] | ||
Seuls | Ludovic | |||
1982 | Le rose et le blanc | Léon | ||
Sweet Inquest on Violence | Ash, le financier | [13] | ||
Chronopolis | Narrator | Voice | ||
Mora | As writer | |||
Enigma | Bodley | |||
1983 | Eréndira | Senator Onésimo Sanchez | [16] | |
Une jeunesse | Bejardy | [13] | ||
1984 | The Judge | Le Docteur | [13] | |
Le Bon Roi Dagobert | Saint Eloi | [13] | ||
Les Boulugres | Le Roi | Voice | ||
1985 | The Holcroft Covenant | Ernst Manfredi | [14] | |
L'éveillé du Pont de l'Alma | Antoine | [13] | ||
Billy Ze Kick | Commissaire Bellanger | [13] | ||
1986 | Canevas la ville | Voice | ||
The Name of the Rose | The Abbot | [14] | ||
1987 | The Madonna Man | Tanzmann | [13] | |
L'enfant et le président | Le président | |||
1988 | Niezwykla podróz Baltazara Kobera | Le maître | [14] | |
1989 | Souvenir | Xavier Lorion | ||
L'homme de terre | Narrator | Voice | ||
Cela s'appelle l'amour | Himself | |||
1991 | My Life Is Hell | Gabriel | By Josiane Balasko | [13] |
1993 | Woyzeck | Le capitaine | ||
L'ordre du jour | Stark | [13] | ||
The Remains of the Day | Dupont D'Ivry | [14] | ||
1995 | Jefferson in Paris | Louis XVI | [14] | |
Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud | Dolabella | [13] | ||
1996 | The Human Plant (La Plante humaine) | Michel | ||
1997 | Mauvais genre | Honoré de Balzac | ||
1998 | Don Juan | Don Luis | [13] | |
Let There Be Light / Que la lumière soit | Monseigneur Loublié | By Arthur Joffé | [13] | |
Ronin | Jean-Pierre | [17] | ||
1999 | A Monkey's Tale | Master Martin | Voice | |
2000 | Les Acteurs | Man in the street | By Bertrand Blier | |
Ceux d'en face | Mikaël | [13] | ||
2003 | The Mystery of the Yellow Room | Stangerson | [13] | |
Kaena: The Prophecy | Opaz | Voice, French version | ||
Adieu | Serge | [13] | ||
Le Furet | Don Salvadore | [13] | ||
2004 | L'empreinte | Romain Dessouches | ||
Strange Crime | David | [13] | ||
5x2 | Bernard | By François Ozon | [13] | |
2005 | Les invisibles | Le gardien | [13] | |
Bye Bye Blackbird | Robert | |||
The Perfume of the Lady in Black | Le professeur Stangerson | [13] | ||
Good Girl | Jean | [13] | ||
Selon Rachel | ||||
Munich | Papa | [17] | ||
2006 | Il sera une fois... | Le vieux monsieur | [13] | |
Goya's Ghosts | Father Gregorio | [14] | ||
2007 | Heartbeat Detector (La Question Humaine) |
Mathias Jüst | [14] | |
To Each His Own Cinema | The old blind man | (segment "Le Don") | [13] | |
The Last Mistress | Le vicomte de Prony | [16] | ||
Go West! A Lucky Luke Adventure | Bartleby | Voice | ||
2009 | Agora | Theon | [14] | |
Je vais te manquer | Max | |||
Park Benches | The Client doormat | [13] | ||
2010 | Of Gods and Men | Luc | César Award for Best Supporting Actor Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actor |
[14] |
Hitler à Hollywood | Himself | [13] | ||
2011 | Titeuf | Le psy | Voice | |
Les hommes libres | Le recteur Si Kaddour Ben Ghabrit | [14] | ||
The Cardboard Village | Il vecchio prete | [13] | ||
2012 | Gebo et l'Ombre | Gebo | By Manoel de Oliveira | [14] |
2013 | Le renard jaune | Jean Virno | [13] | |
2014 | Rosenn | Voice | ||
Maestro | Cédric Rovère | [13] | ||
2015 | Les filles au Moyen Âge | Daniel | [13] | |
2016 | The First, the Last | Jean-Berchmans | [13] | |
Sculpt | (final film role) | [18] |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1982 | Smiley's People | Anton Grigoriev | TV miniseries | [15] |
1986 | Le Tiroir secret | TV miniseries | ||
1991 | Maigret et la Grande Perche | Monsieur Serre | TV series | |
2001 | Maigret et la Croqueuse de Diamants | Sir Lampson | TV series | |
2013 | Marguerite Yourcenar, alchimie du paysage | The Narrator | TV documentary | |
Le tourbillon de Jeanne | L'homme | TV series |
Video games
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon | Henri Crousteau | Voice-over | |
2012 | 007 Legends | Hugo Drax | Voice-over | [19] |
References
- Mes Étoiles: les rencontres qui ont éclairé mon chemin, Michael Lonsdale and Patrick Scheyder, Bayard, 2018
- "Michael Lonsdale et Jeanne-Marie Conquer". Maison internationale des Poètes et des Écrivains de Saint-Malo. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
- Rédaction, La; le 21/09/20 17:00, Mis à jour. "Mort de Michael Lonsdale : retour sur ses plus grands rôles". linternaute.com (in French). Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- "Michael Lonsdale, icône du cinéma et du théâtre, est mort". L'Obs (in French). 21 September 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- Canby, Vincent (29 June 1979). "Moonraker (1979) MOONRAKER". The New York Times.
- Qui est qui en France, Jacques Lafitte, 2008, p. 1433
- "Michael Lonsdale – Bond villain in Moonraker – dies, aged 89". Radio Times. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- Goodman, Lanie (3 December 2010). "A gentle screen giant subtly shines". The Wall Street Journal.
- "Les Inrocks - Michael Lonsdale" (in French). Retrieved 28 September 2013.
- Allen Kim (21 September 2020). "Michael Lonsdale, actor who played Bond villain in 'Moonraker,' dies at 87". CNN. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- "Michael Lonsdale obituary". The Guardian. 22 September 2020.
- "Michael Lonsdale, Bond Villain in 'Moonraker,' Dies at 89 | Hollywood Reporter". www.hollywoodreporter.com. 21 September 2020.
- "Michael Lonsdale – Actor". mubi.com. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
- "Michael Lonsdale obituary". the Guardian. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
- Pulver, Andrew (21 September 2020). "Michael Lonsdale, Bond villain Hugo Drax in Moonraker, dies aged 89". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
- "Michael Lonsdale movie reviews & film summaries | Roger Ebert". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
- "Bond villain actor Michael Lonsdale dies aged 89". BBC News. 21 September 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
- Allen Kim (21 September 2020). "Michael Lonsdale, actor who played Bond villain in 'Moonraker,' dies at 87". CNN. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
- "Michael Lonsdale obituary: French actor dies at 89". Legacy.com. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.