Michael Lonsdale
Born: 1931-05-24 in Paris, France
Died: 2020-09-21
Known For: Acting
Biography
Michael Edward Lonsdale Crouch (24 May 1931 – 21 September 2020), commonly known as Michael Lonsdale and sometimes as Michel Lonsdale, was a French-British actor and author who appeared in over 180 films and television shows. He is often known in the English-speaking world for his roles as the villain Hugo Drax in the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker, deputy police commissioner Claude Lebel in The Day of the Jackal (1973), The Abbot in The Name of the Rose (1986) and Dupont d'Ivry in The Remains of the Day (1993). Lonsdale was born in Paris, the natural son of British Army officer Edward Lonsdale Crouch and Simone Calderon (née Béraud). He was brought up initially on the island of Jersey, then in London from 1935, and later, during the Second World War, in Casablanca, Morocco. 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. 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. and with Sean Connery, in the 1986 film The Name of the Rose. He would later appear in Munich (2005), 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. Lonsdale was also the author of ten books. A practising Roman Catholic, he was close to the Emmanuel Community. 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. Lonsdale died in Paris on 21 September 2020, aged 89. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Lonsdale, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
2025
2024
- African Glory as Christopher Columbus
2023
- The Outsider as Narrator (Voice)
2020
- Le Fantôme de Laurent Terzieff as Self
2019
- Degas and I as Edgar Degas
- Salvador Dalí: Génie tragi-comique as Narrator
2017
- Bazin's Film as Narrator
2016
- Sculpt
- The First, the Last as Jean-Berchmans
- The Mysteries of Paris: Jacques Rivette's Out 1 Revisited as Self
- Jean-Marie Serreau, découvreur de théâtres as Self
- Les Filles au Moyen-Âge as Daniel
2015
- The Visit as Self
2014
- Maestro as Cedric Rovère
- J.R.R. Tolkien: Designer of Worlds as (voice)
- Rosenn as (voice)
- N: The Madness Of Reason as Narrator
2013
- Le Renard jaune as Jean Virno
2012
- Gebo and the Shadow as Gebo
2011
- The Cardboard Village as Old Priest
- Titeuf as Le psy (voice)
- Hitler in Hollywood as Michael Lonsdale
- Free Men as Si Kaddour Ben Ghabrit
- Veilleurs dans la nuit - Une journée monastique à l'Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux as Narrateur
2010
- Of Gods and Men as Luc
2009
- Agora as Theon
- You'll Miss Me as Max
- Au siècle de Maupassant, contes et nouvelles du XIXe as Le Grand Loustalot
2008
- Le Silence de l'épervier as Antoine Carsac
- Les amants cinéma as Self
2007
- The Last Mistress as le vicomte Prony
- Go West: A Lucky Luke Adventure as Bartleby (voice)
- To Each His Own Cinema as The old blind man (segment "Le Don")
- Heartbeat Detector as Mathias Jüst
2006
- Goya's Ghosts as Inquisitor General
- Les Mains d'Andréa
- Jeanne, à petits pas as Louis
2005
- Munich as Papa
- Invisible as Le gardien
- Gentille as Jean
- Bye Bye Blackbird as Robert
- The Perfume of the Lady in Black as Le professeur Stangerson
- The Separation as Paul Doumer
2004
- Five Times Two as Bernard
- Under a False Name as David
- Adieu as Serge
2003
- Le Furet as Don Salvadore
- Kaena: The Prophecy as Opaz (voice)
- The Mystery of the Yellow Room as Stangerson
2002
- Le Mythe Cathare as Narrator
2001
- Those Facing Us as Mikaël
2000
- Inside 'Moonraker' as Self
- Actors as Man walking down the street
- Delphine Seyrig, portrait d'une comète as Self
- Speaking of Buñuel as Self
- Is Dead - Portrait incomplet de Gertrude Stein as Narrator (voice)
1999
- A Monkey's Tale as Maître Flavius (Voice)
1998
- Ronin as Jean-Pierre
- Don Juan as Don Luis
- Let There Be Light! as Monseigneur Loublié
1997
- Mauvais Genre as Honoré de Balzac
- Noise of Love and War as The director
- Jean Eustache's Wasted Breath as (voice)
1996
- La Plante Humaine as Michel
1995
- Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud as Dollabella
- Jefferson in Paris as Louis XVI
- Vroum-vroum
1994
- Dieu sait quoi as Narrator
1993
- The Remains of the Day as Dupont D'Ivry
- Woyzeck as Le capitaine
- L'ordre du jour as Stark
1991
- Maigret as Guillaume Serre
- Seul face au crime as Procuratore
- My Life Is Hell as Gabriel
1990
- Out 1 as Thomas
- Film sur Georges Perec as Self
1989
- Souvenir as Xavier Lorion
- Earthen Man as (voice)
- Cela s'appelle l'amour as Self
1988
- The Tribulations of Balthazar Kober as Cammerschulze
1987
- Der Madonna-Mann as Tanzmann
1986
- The Name of the Rose as The Abbot
- Le Tiroir secret as Philippe Jolivet
- The Abbey of Crime: Umberto Eco's 'The Name of the Rose' as Self
- Emile Reynaud as Narrator
- Rendez-vous manqués as Moralès
- The Memory of the Eye E.J. Marey as Narrator
- L'air d'aimer as Raymond
1985
- The Holcroft Covenant as Ernst Manfredi
- Billy Ze Kick as Commissaire Bellanger
- The Insomniac on the Bridge as Antonie
- Le Génie du faux as Constantin Escher
1984
- Good King Dagobert as Saint Eloi
- The Judge as Le docteur
- The Colour of Words as Self
1983
- Erendira as Senator Onésimo Sanchez
- Une jeunesse as Béjardy
- The Boulugres as Le roi (voice)
- Chronopolis as Narrator (voice)
- La Rényon lontan as Narrator (voice)
1982
- Mora ... (Writer)
- Enigma as Bodley
- Smiley's People as Anton Grigoriev
- Le rose et le blanc as Léon
- Mersonne ne m'aime as Commissioner Bancau
- Sweet Inquest on Violence as Ash, the financier
- Trompe-l'oeil as Self (voice)
1981
- The Bunker as Martin Bormann
- The Games of Countess Dolingen as Bertrand Haines-Pearson
- Alone as Ludovic
- Un paquebot dans la tête as Roland
1980
- Jean-Sans-Terre as Jean Papeuil
1979
- Moonraker as Hugo Drax
- The Passage as Renoudot
- Ève avait l'éclat métallique de l'été
1978
- The Left-Handed Woman as The Waiter
- The Risk of Living as narrator
1977
- A Dirty Story as The voyeur
- The Accuser as Abéraud
- The Devil in the Box as Georges Aubert
- Aurais dû faire gaffe... le choc est terrible
1976
- Mr. Klein as Pierre
- Scrambled Eggs as The President of the Republic
- Son nom de Venise dans Calcutta désert as The Vice Consul of Lahore
- Bartleby as L'Huissier
- Les Écrans déchirés as Michael
- La nuit du beau marin peut-être? as Boris
- Cygne II as Narrator (voice)
1975
- India Song as Le Vice-Consul de Lahore
- Les Rendez-vous du dimanche as Self
- The Track as David Sutter
- Galileo as Cardinal Barberini (later Pope Urban VIII)
- Special Section as Pierre Pucheu - le ministre de l'intérieur
- Aloïse as le médecin
- A Whale That Had a Toothache as Le peintre
- Serious as Pleasure as Inspecteur Fournier
- The Romantic Englishwoman as Swan
- The Pink Telephone as M. Morrison, président de la Fielding
- Mad Enough to Kill as Stephane Mostri
- Né as Self
1974
- Stavisky... as Docteur Mézy
- The Phantom of Liberty as The Hatter
- No Pockets in a Shroud as Raymond
- Successive Slidings of Pleasure as The Judge
- The Suspects as Judge Souftries
- Caravan to Vaccarès as Duc de Croyter
- The Truth About the Imaginary Passion of an Unknown as Le reporter TV / Ponce Pilate
- La grande Paulette as Paul
- La Confession d'un enfant du siècle as Smith
- Film sur Hans Bellmer as Narrator
- Right to the city as Narrator
1973
- The Day of the Jackal as Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel
- Out 1: Spectre as Thomas
- The Girl with the Cello as Philippe Lariel
- Les grands sentiments font les bons gueuletons as Stéphane
1972
- Le Grand Échiquier as Self
- Chut ! as Sergel
- There Once Was a Cop as Commissioner Lucas
- The Old Maid as Monod
- Autumn as Julien, le réalisateur
- Les années Lumière as Narrator (voice)
1971
- Murmur of the Heart as Father Henri
- Samedi soir as Self
- Papa, the Lil' Boats as Hippolyte the brother of Marylène
- Jaune, Le Soleil as Un juif
- Out 1 as Thomas
- Law Breakers as Inspector Bertrand
- Spring as L'homme qui fuit
1970
- Un troisième as Le réalisateur
- La Fenêtre as Bracquemont
- The Stud as Commissioner Donald Both
- Les Cent Livres des Hommes as Socrates
- Le revolver et la rose as Philippe de la Tour / Dimitri Korkesky
1969
- Hibernatus as Edouard Loriebat
- Destroy, She Said as Stein
- The Nail Clippers as Le mari
- Winter as Julien & Marc
1968
- Stolen Kisses as Georges Tabard
- The Bride Wore Black as Morane
- The Big Wash as Delaroche
- The Man in the Buick as L'inspecteur Farjon de la P.J.
- Zoo Story as Peter
- Concerto for an Exile as Un acteur au théâtre
1967
- Order of the Daisy as Lastac / Lataque, expert en écritures / Le juge (voice)
- Judoka-Secret Agent as Thomas Perkins
- The Authentic Trial of Carl Emmanuel Jung as L'Avocat de la Défense
1966
- Is Paris Burning? as Debu-Bridel (uncredited)
- Your Money or Your Life as Speaker at the shy people's club
- Comédie as L'homme (M)
1965
- The Buddies as Lamendin
- Hail! Mafia as Hyman
- The Ghostly Rental as Kernan
1964
- Behold a Pale Horse as Reporter
- Jaloux comme un tigre as The grimacing motorist
- Le petit Nicolas as The father
- The Little Misses as L'elève
1962
- The Trial as Priest
- Adorable Liar as Albert
- Snobs! as Charles Dufaut
- Crime Does Not Pay as Acteur
- The Immoral Moment as Mercier
- Le bureau des mariages
1960
- The Itchy Palm as Nobert
- The Door Slams as Georges
- Les Trois Sœurs as Andreï Prodarov
1956
- It Happened in Aden as Sinclair