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)
2022
- An Oral History of: The Name of the Rose as Self (archive footage)
2021
- So Long Michael as Himself
2020
- Le Fantôme de Laurent Terzieff as Self
2019
- Salvador Dalí: Génie tragi-comique as Narrator
- Degas and I as Edgar Degas
2017
- Bazin's Film as Narrator
2016
- The First, the Last as Jean-Berchmans
- Sculpt
- Les Filles au Moyen-Âge as Daniel
- Jean-Marie Serreau, découvreur de théâtres as Self
- The Mysteries of Paris: Jacques Rivette's Out 1 Revisited as Self
2015
- The Visit as Self
2014
- J.R.R. Tolkien: Designer of Worlds as (voice)
- Maestro as Cedric Rovère
- N: The Madness Of Reason as Narrator
- Rosenn as (voice)
2013
- Le Renard jaune as Jean Virno
- Marguerite Yourcenar: Alchimie du paysage
2012
- Gebo and the Shadow as Gebo
2011
- Titeuf as Le psy (voice)
- Hitler in Hollywood as Michael Lonsdale
- The Cardboard Village as Old Priest
- 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
- Le Fauteuil hanté as Le Grand Loustalot
2009
- Au siècle de Maupassant, contes et nouvelles du XIXe as Le Grand Loustalot
- Agora as Theon
- You'll Miss Me as Max
2008
- Le Silence de l'épervier as Antoine Carsac
- The Man from London as Kocsmáros (voice)
- Les amants cinéma as Self
2007
- To Each His Own Cinema as The old blind man (segment "Le Don")
- The Last Mistress as le vicomte Prony
- Go West: A Lucky Luke Adventure as Bartleby (voice)
- 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
- The Perfume of the Lady in Black as Professor Stangerson
- Gentille as Jean
- Bye Bye Blackbird as Robert
- Invisible as Le gardien
- The Separation as Paul Doumer
2004
- Five Times Two as Bernard
- Under a False Name as David
- Adieu as Serge
2003
- Kaena: The Prophecy as Opaz (voice)
- The Mystery of the Yellow Room as Stangerson
- Le Furet as Don Salvadore
2002
- Le Mythe Cathare as Narrator
2001
- Those Facing Us as Mikaël
2000
- Actors as Man walking down the street
- Speaking of Buñuel as Self
- Delphine Seyrig, portrait d'une comète as Self
- Inside 'Moonraker' 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
- Let There Be Light! as Monseigneur Loublié
- Don Juan as Don Luis
1997
- Mauvais Genre as Honoré de Balzac
- Jean Eustache's Wasted Breath as (voice)
- Noise of Love and War as The director
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
- My Life Is Hell as Gabriel
1990
- Film sur Georges Perec as Self
- Out 1 as Thomas
- Un cane sciolto as Procuratore
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
- The Memory of the Eye E.J. Marey as Narrator
- Emile Reynaud as Narrator
- L'air d'aimer as Raymond
- Rendez-vous manqués as Moralès
1985
- The Holcroft Covenant as Ernst Manfredi
- Le Génie du faux as Constantin Escher
- The Insomniac on the Bridge as Antonie
- Billy Ze Kick as Commissaire Bellanger
1984
- Good King Dagobert as Saint Eloi
- The Judge as Le docteur
- The Colour of Words as Self
1983
- Erendira as Senator Onésimo Sanchez
- The Boulugres as Le roi (voice)
- Chronopolis as Narrator (voice)
- Une jeunesse as Béjardy
- La Rényon lontan as Narrator (voice)
1982
- Smiley's People as Anton Grigoriev
- Enigma as Bodley
- Mersonne ne m'aime as Commissioner Bancau
- Le rose et le blanc as Léon
- Sweet Inquest on Violence as Ash, the financier
- Mora ... (Writer)
- Trompe-l'oeil as Self (voice)
1981
- The Bunker as Martin Bormann
- The Games of Countess Dolingen as Bertrand Haines-Pearson
- Un paquebot dans la tête as Roland Gougean-Roland
- Alone as Ludovic
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
- Ciné regards as Self
- The Left-Handed Woman as The Waiter
- The Risk of Living as narrator
1977
- A Dirty Story as The voyeur
- The Devil in the Box as Georges Aubert
- Aurais dû faire gaffe... le choc est terrible
- The Accuser as Abéraud
1976
- Mr. Klein as Pierre
- Son nom de Venise dans Calcutta désert as The Vice Consul of Lahore
- Cygne II as Narrator (voice)
- La nuit du beau marin peut-être? as Boris
- Bartleby as L'Huissier
- Scrambled Eggs as The President of the Republic
- Les Écrans déchirés as Michael
1975
- Les Rendez-vous du dimanche as Self
- The Romantic Englishwoman as Swan
- Galileo as Cardinal Barberini (later Pope Urban VIII)
- The Pink Telephone as M. Morrison, président de la Fielding
- India Song as Le Vice-Consul de Lahore
- Special Section as Pierre Pucheu - le ministre de l'intérieur
- The Track as David Sutter
- Mad Enough to Kill as Stephane Mostri
- Serious as Pleasure as Inspecteur Fournier
- Aloïse as le médecin
- Né as Self
- A Whale That Had a Toothache as Le peintre
1974
- The Phantom of Liberty as Hatter
- La Confession d'un enfant du siècle as Smith
- Stavisky... as Docteur Mézy
- Successive Slidings of Pleasure as The Judge
- Malaventure as Georges Mortier
- No Pockets in a Shroud as Raymond
- Film sur Hans Bellmer as Narrator
- Caravan to Vaccarès as Duc de Croyter
- La Grande Paulette as Paul
- The Truth About the Imaginary Passion of an Unknown as Le reporter TV / Ponce Pilate
- Right to the city as Narrator
- The Suspects as Judge Souftries
1973
- The Day of the Jackal as Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel
- Les grands sentiments font les bons gueuletons as Stéphane
- The Girl with the Cello as Philippe Lariel
- Out 1: Spectre as Thomas
1972
- Le Grand Échiquier as Self
- The Old Maid as Monod
- There Once Was a Cop as Commissioner Lucas
- Les Années Lumière as Narrator (voice)
- Autumn as Julien, le réalisateur
- Chut ! as Sergel
1971
- Samedi soir as Self
- Out 1 as Thomas
- Murmur of the Heart as Father Henri
- Law Breakers as Inspector Bertrand
- Papa, the Lil' Boats as Hippolyte the brother of Marylène
- Spring as L'homme qui fuit
- Jaune, Le Soleil as Un juif
1970
- Les Cent Livres des Hommes as Socrates
- The Stud as Commissioner Donald Both
- La Fenêtre as Bracquemont
- Le revolver et la rose as Philippe de la Tour / Dimitri Korkesky
- Un troisième as Le réalisateur
1969
- Hibernatus as Edouard Loriebat
- The Nail Clippers as Le mari
- Winter as Julien & Marc
- Destroy, She Said as Stein
1968
- Stolen Kisses as Georges Tabard
- The Bride Wore Black as Morane
- The Man in the Buick as L'inspecteur Farjon de la P.J.
- The Big Wash as Delaroche
- Concerto for an Exile as Un acteur au théâtre
- Zoo Story as Peter
1967
- The Authentic Trial of Carl Emmanuel Jung as L'Avocat de la Défense
- Order of the Daisy as Lastac / Lataque, expert en écritures / Le juge (voice)
- Judoka-Secret Agent as Thomas Perkins
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
- Hail! Mafia as Hyman
- The Buddies as Lamendin
- 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
- Crime Does Not Pay as Acteur
- The Immoral Moment as Mercier
- Snobs! as Charles Dufaut
- Adorable Liar as Albert
- Le bureau des mariages
1960
- The Itchy Palm as Nobert
- Les Trois Sœurs as Andreï Prodarov
- The Door Slams as Georges
1956
- It Happened in Aden as Sinclair