Michael Lonsdale
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.
Known For
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975
Le Grand Échiquier
1972
Samedi soir
1971
Maigret
1991
Maigret
1991
Ciné regards
1978
The Name of the Rose
1986
Smiley's People
1982
Munich
2005
Moonraker
1979
The Remains of the Day
1993
The Day of the Jackal
1973
Filmography
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
as Self · 1975
Le Grand Échiquier
as Self · 1972
Samedi soir
as Self · 1971
Maigret
as Guillaume Serre · 1991
Maigret
as Sir Lampson · 1991
Ciné regards
as Self · 1978
The Name of the Rose
as The Abbot · 1986
Smiley's People
as Anton Grigoriev · 1982
Munich
as Papa · 2005
Moonraker
as Hugo Drax · 1979
The Remains of the Day
as Dupont D'Ivry · 1993
The Day of the Jackal
as Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel · 1973
Stolen Kisses
as Georges Tabard · 1968
Ronin
as Jean-Pierre · 1998
Les Cent Livres des Hommes
as Socrates · 1970
Agora
as Theon · 2009
Is Paris Burning?
as Debu-Bridel (uncredited) · 1966
Murmur of the Heart
as Father Henri · 1971
Out 1
as Thomas · 1971
The Phantom of Liberty
as Hatter · 1974
Goya's Ghosts
as Inquisitor General · 2006
The Trial
as Priest · 1962
Hibernatus
as Edouard Loriebat · 1969
The Bride Wore Black
as Morane · 1968
Bye Bye Blackbird
as Robert · 2005
Malaventure
as Georges Mortier · 1974
Au siècle de Maupassant, contes et nouvelles du XIXe
as Le Grand Loustalot · 2009
Of Gods and Men
as Luc · 2010
Mr. Klein
as Pierre · 1976
To Each His Own Cinema
as The old blind man (segment "Le Don") · 2007
La Confession d'un enfant du siècle
as Smith · 1974
Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud
as Dollabella · 1995
Actors
as Man walking down the street · 2000
Behold a Pale Horse
as Reporter · 1964
The Bunker
as Martin Bormann · 1981
A Monkey's Tale
as Maître Flavius (Voice) · 1999
Kaena: The Prophecy
as Opaz (voice) · 2003
The Passage
as Renoudot · 1979
The Holcroft Covenant
as Ernst Manfredi · 1985
The Last Mistress
as le vicomte Prony · 2007
Five Times Two
as Bernard · 2004
Le Tiroir secret
as Philippe Jolivet · 1986
An Oral History of: The Name of the Rose
as Self (archive footage) · 2022
Jefferson in Paris
as Louis XVI · 1995
Adieu
as Serge · 2004
The Perfume of the Lady in Black
as Professor Stangerson · 2005
The Man from London
as Kocsmáros (voice) · 2008
Stavisky...
as Docteur Mézy · 1974
Le Génie du faux
as Constantin Escher · 1985
There Once Was a Cop
as Commissioner Lucas · 1972
Emile Reynaud
as Narrator · 1986
Enigma
as Bodley · 1982
Successive Slidings of Pleasure
as The Judge · 1974
Film sur Georges Perec
as Self · 1990
Don Juan
as Don Luis · 1998
The Mystery of the Yellow Room
as Stangerson · 2003
The Colour of Words
as Self · 1984
Le Silence de l'épervier
as Antoine Carsac · 2008
Good King Dagobert
as Saint Eloi · 1984
The Boulugres
as Le roi (voice) · 1983
Inside 'Moonraker'
as Self · 2000
J.R.R. Tolkien: Designer of Worlds
as (voice) · 2014
The Stud
as Commissioner Donald Both · 1970
Né
as Self · 1975
India Song
as Le Vice-Consul de Lahore · 1975
Cygne II
as Narrator (voice) · 1976
Un cane sciolto
as Procuratore · 1990
Erendira
as Senator Onésimo Sanchez · 1983
Under a False Name
as David · 2004
Gebo and the Shadow
as Gebo · 2012
The Old Maid
as Monod · 1972
The First, the Last
as Jean-Berchmans · 2016
Crime Does Not Pay
as Acteur · 1962
The Man in the Buick
as L'inspecteur Farjon de la P.J. · 1968
The Romantic Englishwoman
as Swan · 1975
The Games of Countess Dolingen
as Bertrand Haines-Pearson · 1981
The Separation
as Paul Doumer · 2005
Law Breakers
as Inspector Bertrand · 1971
Le Furet
as Don Salvadore · 2003
Hitler in Hollywood
as Michael Lonsdale · 2011
Autumn
as Julien, le réalisateur · 1972
Spring
as L'homme qui fuit · 1971
Woyzeck
as Le capitaine · 1993
My Life Is Hell
as Gabriel · 1991
Go West: A Lucky Luke Adventure
as Bartleby (voice) · 2007
Titeuf
as Le psy (voice) · 2011
Speaking of Buñuel
as Self · 2000
Serious as Pleasure
as Inspecteur Fournier · 1975
The Abbey of Crime: Umberto Eco's 'The Name of the Rose'
as Self · 1986
Let There Be Light!
as Monseigneur Loublié · 1998
Mad Enough to Kill
as Stephane Mostri · 1975
Your Money or Your Life
as Speaker at the Shy People's Club · 1966
Free Men
as Si Kaddour Ben Ghabrit · 2011
A Bullet in the Gun Barrel
· 1958
Maestro
as Cedric Rovère · 2014
Bartleby
as L'Huissier · 1976
Sculpt
· 2016
Caravan to Vaccarès
as Duc de Croyter · 1974
Papa, the Lil' Boats
as Hippolyte the brother of Marylène · 1971
The Left-Handed Woman
as The Waiter · 1978
The Suspects
as Judge Souftries · 1974
Winter
as Julien & Marc · 1969
The Life of Mirrors
· 2025
Zoo Story
as Peter · 1968
Gentille
as Jean · 2005
Hail! Mafia
as Hyman · 1965
The Track
as David Sutter · 1975
Son nom de Venise dans Calcutta désert
as The Vice Consul of Lahore · 1976
The Cardboard Village
as Old Priest · 2011
The Devil in the Box
as Georges Aubert · 1977
Delphine Seyrig, portrait d'une comète
as Self · 2000
Alone
as Ludovic · 1981
Jaloux comme un tigre
as The grimacing motorist · 1964
No Pockets in a Shroud
as Raymond · 1974
The Insomniac on the Bridge
as Antonie · 1985
The Nail Clippers
as Le mari · 1969
Heartbeat Detector
as Mathias Jüst · 2007
Special Section
as Pierre Pucheu - le ministre de l'intérieur · 1975
Un paquebot dans la tête
as Roland Gougean-Roland · 1981
Order of the Daisy
as Lastac / Lataque, expert en écritures / Le juge (voice) · 1967
The Tribulations of Balthazar Kober
as Cammerschulze · 1988
Le rose et le blanc
as Léon · 1982
Out 1
as Thomas · 1990
Cela s'appelle l'amour
as Self · 1989
Le revolver et la rose
as Philippe de la Tour / Dimitri Korkesky · 1970
Noise of Love and War
as The director · 1997
Chronopolis
as Narrator (voice) · 1983
Those Facing Us
as Mikaël · 2001
Mauvais Genre
as Honoré de Balzac · 1997
It Happened in Aden
as Sinclair · 1956
Aloïse
as le médecin · 1975
You'll Miss Me
as Max · 2009
Right to the city
as Narrator · 1974
The Buddies
as Lamendin · 1965
A Whale That Had a Toothache
as Le peintre · 1975
Les grands sentiments font les bons gueuletons
as Stéphane · 1973
Judoka-Secret Agent
as Thomas Perkins · 1967
L'ordre du jour
as Stark · 1993
Souvenir
as Xavier Lorion · 1989
Out 1: Spectre
as Thomas · 1973
Le Fantôme de Laurent Terzieff
as Self · 2020
The Pink Telephone
as M. Morrison, président de la Fielding · 1975
Jean-Marie Serreau, découvreur de théâtres
as Self · 2016
The Risk of Living
as narrator · 1978
The Girl with the Cello
as Philippe Lariel · 1973
Chut !
as Sergel · 1972
La Fenêtre
as Bracquemont · 1970
Rosenn
as (voice) · 2014
The Mysteries of Paris: Jacques Rivette's Out 1 Revisited
as Self · 2016
Der Madonna-Mann
as Tanzmann · 1987
The Ghostly Rental
as Kernan · 1965
The Memory of the Eye E.J. Marey
as Narrator · 1986
Earthen Man
as (voice) · 1989
Les Filles au Moyen-Âge
as Daniel · 2016
Galileo
as Cardinal Barberini (later Pope Urban VIII) · 1975
Jean Eustache's Wasted Breath
as (voice) · 1997
Le Petit Nicolas
as The father · 1964
Mersonne ne m'aime
as Commissioner Bancau · 1982
Le bureau des mariages
· 1962
Les Écrans déchirés
as Michael · 1976
Vroum-vroum
· 1995
Salvador Dalí: Génie tragi-comique
as Narrator · 2019
Invisible
as Le gardien · 2005
Rendez-vous manqués
as Moralès · 1986
A Dirty Story
as The voyeur · 1977
The Big Wash
as Delaroche · 1968
The Judge
as Le docteur · 1984
The Door Slams
as Georges · 1960
Concerto for an Exile
as Un acteur au théâtre · 1968
Dieu sait quoi
as Narrator · 1994
Les Mains d'Andréa
· 2006
L'air d'aimer
as Raymond · 1986
The Accuser
as Abéraud · 1977
Degas and I
as Edgar Degas · 2019
The Itchy Palm
as Nobert · 1960
The Authentic Trial of Carl Emmanuel Jung
as L'Avocat de la Défense · 1967
Le Renard jaune
as Jean Virno · 2013
Film sur Hans Bellmer
as Narrator · 1974
The Immoral Moment
as Mercier · 1962
La Grande Paulette
as Paul · 1974
The Truth About the Imaginary Passion of an Unknown
as Le reporter TV / Ponce Pilate · 1974
Adorable Liar
as Albert · 1962
Snobs!
as Charles Dufaut · 1962
Is Dead - Portrait incomplet de Gertrude Stein
as Narrator (voice) · 2000
Une jeunesse
as Béjardy · 1983
Sweet Inquest on Violence
as Ash, the financier · 1982
Aurais dû faire gaffe... le choc est terrible
· 1977
Destroy, She Said
as Stein · 1969
Billy Ze Kick
as Commissaire Bellanger · 1985
Jeanne, à petits pas
as Louis · 2006
Scrambled Eggs
as The President of the Republic · 1976
Jaune, Le Soleil
as Un juif · 1971
Les Années Lumière
as Narrator (voice) · 1972
Comédie
as L'homme (M) · 1966
La Rényon lontan
as Narrator (voice) · 1983
Les amants cinéma
as Self · 2008
The Outsider
as Narrator (Voice) · 2023
Bazin's Film
as Narrator · 2017
The Little Misses
as L'elève · 1964
Ève avait l'éclat métallique de l'été
· 1979
African Glory
as Christopher Columbus · 2024
Jean-Sans-Terre
as Jean Papeuil · 1980
La nuit du beau marin peut-être?
as Boris · 1976
Trompe-l'oeil
as Self (voice) · 1982
Veilleurs dans la nuit - Une journée monastique à l'Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux
as Narrateur · 2011
Les Trois Sœurs
as Andreï Prodarov · 1960
N: The Madness Of Reason
as Narrator · 2014
La Plante Humaine
as Michel · 1996
Le Mythe Cathare
as Narrator · 2002
Un troisième
as Le réalisateur · 1970
The Visit
as Self · 2015
So Long Michael
as Himself · 2021