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).
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.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0003909
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q346540
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Filmography (Movies)
The Life of Mirrors
Character:
Release Date:13/07/2025
African Glory
Character:Christopher Columbus
Release Date:26/05/2024
The Outsider
Character:Narrator (Voice)
Release Date:15/10/2023
An Oral History of: The Name of the Rose
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:25/07/2022
Le Fantôme de Laurent Terzieff
Character:Self
Release Date:09/09/2020
Degas and I
Character:Edgar Degas
Release Date:30/10/2019
Salvador Dalí: Génie tragi-comique
Character:Narrator
Release Date:03/03/2019
Bazin's Film
Character:Narrator
Release Date:20/10/2017
Sculpt
Character:
Release Date:16/08/2016
The Mysteries of Paris: Jacques Rivette's Out 1 Revisited
Character:Self
Release Date:01/07/2016
Jean-Marie Serreau, découvreur de théâtres
Character:Self
Release Date:27/04/2016
The First, the Last
Character:Jean-Berchmans
Release Date:27/01/2016
Les Filles au Moyen-Âge
Character:Daniel
Release Date:27/01/2016
The Visit
Character:Self
Release Date:03/07/2015
J.R.R. Tolkien: Designer of Worlds
Character:(voice)
Release Date:02/12/2014
N: The Madness Of Reason
Character:Narrator
Release Date:08/11/2014
Maestro
Character:Cedric Rovère
Release Date:23/07/2014
Rosenn
Character:(voice)
Release Date:12/03/2014
Le Renard jaune
Character:Jean Virno
Release Date:26/06/2013
Gebo and the Shadow
Character:Gebo
Release Date:10/09/2012
Veilleurs dans la nuit - Une journée monastique à l'Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux
Character:Narrateur
Release Date:10/12/2011
The Cardboard Village
Character:Old Priest
Release Date:07/10/2011
Free Men
Character:Si Kaddour Ben Ghabrit
Release Date:28/09/2011
Hitler in Hollywood
Character:Michael Lonsdale
Release Date:04/05/2011
Titeuf
Character:Le psy (voice)
Release Date:06/04/2011
Of Gods and Men
Character:Luc
Release Date:08/09/2010
You'll Miss Me
Character:Max
Release Date:10/06/2009
Agora
Character:Theon
Release Date:17/05/2009
Les amants cinéma
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/2008
To Each His Own Cinema
Character:The old blind man (segment "Le Don")
Release Date:31/10/2007
Heartbeat Detector
Character:Mathias Jüst
Release Date:12/09/2007
Go West: A Lucky Luke Adventure
Character:Bartleby (voice)
Release Date:29/07/2007
The Last Mistress
Character:le vicomte Prony
Release Date:30/05/2007
Les Mains d'Andréa
Character:
Release Date:23/11/2006
Goya's Ghosts
Character:Inquisitor General
Release Date:08/11/2006
Jeanne, à petits pas
Character:Louis
Release Date:28/01/2006
Munich
Character:Papa
Release Date:23/12/2005
Gentille
Character:Jean
Release Date:14/12/2005
The Separation
Character:Paul Doumer
Release Date:02/12/2005
Bye Bye Blackbird
Character:Robert
Release Date:14/10/2005
The Perfume of the Lady in Black
Character:Le professeur Stangerson
Release Date:14/09/2005
Invisible
Character:Le gardien
Release Date:15/06/2005
Under a False Name
Character:David
Release Date:10/11/2004
Adieu
Character:Serge
Release Date:08/09/2004
Five Times Two
Character:Bernard
Release Date:01/09/2004
Le Furet
Character:Don Salvadore
Release Date:29/10/2003
The Mystery of the Yellow Room
Character:Stangerson
Release Date:11/06/2003
Kaena: The Prophecy
Character:Opaz (voice)
Release Date:04/06/2003
Le Mythe Cathare
Character:Narrator
Release Date:01/01/2002
Those Facing Us
Character:Mikaël
Release Date:26/09/2001
Delphine Seyrig, portrait d'une comète
Character:Self
Release Date:01/08/2000
Speaking of Buñuel
Character:Self
Release Date:09/06/2000
Inside 'Moonraker'
Character:Self
Release Date:16/05/2000
Actors
Character:Man walking down the street
Release Date:05/04/2000
Is Dead - Portrait incomplet de Gertrude Stein
Character:Narrator (voice)
Release Date:11/03/2000
A Monkey's Tale
Character:Maître Flavius (Voice)
Release Date:02/06/1999
Ronin
Character:Jean-Pierre
Release Date:25/09/1998
Let There Be Light!
Character:Monseigneur Loublié
Release Date:08/07/1998
Don Juan
Character:Don Luis
Release Date:28/04/1998
Mauvais Genre
Character:Honoré de Balzac
Release Date:27/05/1997
Jean Eustache's Wasted Breath
Character:(voice)
Release Date:14/05/1997
Noise of Love and War
Character:The director
Release Date:01/01/1997
La Plante Humaine
Character:Michel
Release Date:22/02/1996
Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud
Character:Dollabella
Release Date:18/10/1995
Jefferson in Paris
Character:Louis XVI
Release Date:31/03/1995
Vroum-vroum
Character:
Release Date:01/01/1995
Dieu sait quoi
Character:Narrator
Release Date:04/08/1994
The Remains of the Day
Character:Dupont D'Ivry
Release Date:05/11/1993
Woyzeck
Character:Le capitaine
Release Date:21/04/1993
L'ordre du jour
Character:Stark
Release Date:01/01/1993
My Life Is Hell
Character:Gabriel
Release Date:04/12/1991
Seul face au crime
Character:Procuratore
Release Date:30/01/1991
Out 1
Character:Thomas
Release Date:15/12/1990
Film sur Georges Perec
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/1990
Cela s'appelle l'amour
Character:Self
Release Date:25/10/1989
Souvenir
Character:Xavier Lorion
Release Date:06/01/1989
Earthen Man
Character:(voice)
Release Date:01/01/1989
The Tribulations of Balthazar Kober
Character:Cammerschulze
Release Date:26/12/1988
Der Madonna-Mann
Character:Tanzmann
Release Date:01/10/1987
The Abbey of Crime: Umberto Eco's 'The Name of the Rose'
Character:Self
Release Date:11/10/1986
The Name of the Rose
Character:The Abbot
Release Date:24/09/1986
Rendez-vous manqués
Character:Moralès
Release Date:30/07/1986
L'air d'aimer
Character:Raymond
Release Date:01/01/1986
Emile Reynaud
Character:Narrator
Release Date:01/01/1986
The Memory of the Eye E.J. Marey
Character:Narrator
Release Date:01/01/1986
Billy Ze Kick
Character:Commissaire Bellanger
Release Date:18/12/1985
The Insomniac on the Bridge
Character:Antonie
Release Date:02/10/1985
The Holcroft Covenant
Character:Ernst Manfredi
Release Date:20/09/1985
Good King Dagobert
Character:Saint Eloi
Release Date:22/08/1984
The Colour of Words
Character:Self
Release Date:12/06/1984
The Judge
Character:Le docteur
Release Date:11/04/1984
Chronopolis
Character:Narrator (voice)
Release Date:21/09/1983
Une jeunesse
Character:Béjardy
Release Date:15/06/1983
Erendira
Character:Senator Onésimo Sanchez
Release Date:01/06/1983
The Boulugres
Character:Le roi (voice)
Release Date:01/01/1983
La Rényon lontan
Character:Narrator (voice)
Release Date:01/01/1983
Enigma
Character:Bodley
Release Date:15/10/1982
Mersonne ne m'aime
Character:Commissioner Bancau
Release Date:26/06/1982
Sweet Inquest on Violence
Character:Ash, the financier
Release Date:04/06/1982
Le rose et le blanc
Character:Léon
Release Date:06/01/1982
Trompe-l'oeil
Character:Self (voice)
Release Date:01/01/1982
Alone
Character:Ludovic
Release Date:07/10/1981
The Games of Countess Dolingen
Character:Bertrand Haines-Pearson
Release Date:01/09/1981
The Bunker
Character:Martin Bormann
Release Date:15/04/1981
Un paquebot dans la tête
Character:Roland
Release Date:04/03/1981
Jean-Sans-Terre
Character:Jean Papeuil
Release Date:07/09/1980
Moonraker
Character:Hugo Drax
Release Date:26/06/1979
The Passage
Character:Renoudot
Release Date:09/03/1979
Ève avait l'éclat métallique de l'été
Character:
Release Date:01/01/1979
The Left-Handed Woman
Character:The Waiter
Release Date:26/05/1978
The Risk of Living
Character:narrator
Release Date:18/04/1978
Aurais dû faire gaffe... le choc est terrible
Character:
Release Date:16/11/1977
A Dirty Story
Character:The voyeur
Release Date:09/11/1977
The Accuser
Character:Abéraud
Release Date:07/09/1977
The Devil in the Box
Character:Georges Aubert
Release Date:19/04/1977
Bartleby
Character:L'Huissier
Release Date:16/12/1976
Mr. Klein
Character:Pierre
Release Date:23/09/1976
Cygne II
Character:Narrator (voice)
Release Date:02/07/1976
Son nom de Venise dans Calcutta désert
Character:The Vice Consul of Lahore
Release Date:02/06/1976
Scrambled Eggs
Character:The President of the Republic
Release Date:30/03/1976
La nuit du beau marin peut-être?
Character:Boris
Release Date:01/01/1976
Les Écrans déchirés
Character:Michael
Release Date:01/01/1976
Né
Character:Self
Release Date:05/11/1975
The Pink Telephone
Character:M. Morrison, président de la Fielding
Release Date:15/10/1975
Mad Enough to Kill
Character:Stephane Mostri
Release Date:20/08/1975
The Romantic Englishwoman
Character:Swan
Release Date:11/06/1975
India Song
Character:Le Vice-Consul de Lahore
Release Date:04/06/1975
The Track
Character:David Sutter
Release Date:14/05/1975
Special Section
Character:Pierre Pucheu - le ministre de l'intérieur
Release Date:23/04/1975
A Whale That Had a Toothache
Character:Le peintre
Release Date:15/04/1975
Aloïse
Character:le médecin
Release Date:02/04/1975
Galileo
Character:Cardinal Barberini (later Pope Urban VIII)
Release Date:27/01/1975
Serious as Pleasure
Character:Inspecteur Fournier
Release Date:15/01/1975
The Suspects
Character:Judge Souftries
Release Date:27/11/1974
No Pockets in a Shroud
Character:Raymond
Release Date:25/10/1974
The Phantom of Liberty
Character:The Hatter
Release Date:10/09/1974
Caravan to Vaccarès
Character:Duc de Croyter
Release Date:08/08/1974
The Truth About the Imaginary Passion of an Unknown
Character:Le reporter TV / Ponce Pilate
Release Date:20/05/1974
Stavisky...
Character:Docteur Mézy
Release Date:15/05/1974
La grande Paulette
Character:Paul
Release Date:24/04/1974
Successive Slidings of Pleasure
Character:The Judge
Release Date:07/03/1974
Right to the city
Character:Narrator
Release Date:06/01/1974
Film sur Hans Bellmer
Character:Narrator
Release Date:01/01/1974
Les grands sentiments font les bons gueuletons
Character:Stéphane
Release Date:12/12/1973
The Girl with the Cello
Character:Philippe Lariel
Release Date:04/10/1973
Out 1: Spectre
Character:Thomas
Release Date:30/06/1973
The Day of the Jackal
Character:Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel
Release Date:16/05/1973
Autumn
Character:Julien, le réalisateur
Release Date:05/07/1972
Chut !
Character:Sergel
Release Date:23/03/1972
Les années Lumière
Character:Narrator (voice)
Release Date:25/02/1972
There Once Was a Cop
Character:Commissioner Lucas
Release Date:11/02/1972
The Old Maid
Character:Monod
Release Date:05/01/1972
Spring
Character:L'homme qui fuit
Release Date:27/10/1971
Law Breakers
Character:Inspector Bertrand
Release Date:07/05/1971
Murmur of the Heart
Character:Father Henri
Release Date:27/04/1971
Papa, the Lil' Boats
Character:Hippolyte the brother of Marylène
Release Date:22/04/1971
Jaune, Le Soleil
Character:Un juif
Release Date:16/02/1971
Le revolver et la rose
Character:Philippe de la Tour / Dimitri Korkesky
Release Date:25/11/1970
Un troisième
Character:Le réalisateur
Release Date:16/09/1970
La Fenêtre
Character:Bracquemont
Release Date:02/08/1970
The Stud
Character:Commissioner Donald Both
Release Date:13/02/1970
Winter
Character:Julien & Marc
Release Date:31/12/1969
Destroy, She Said
Character:Stein
Release Date:25/09/1969
Hibernatus
Character:Edouard Loriebat
Release Date:10/09/1969
The Nail Clippers
Character:Le mari
Release Date:08/01/1969
The Big Wash
Character:Delaroche
Release Date:12/11/1968
Stolen Kisses
Character:Georges Tabard
Release Date:04/09/1968
The Bride Wore Black
Character:Morane
Release Date:22/03/1968
The Man in the Buick
Character:L'inspecteur Farjon de la P.J.
Release Date:12/01/1968
Zoo Story
Character:Peter
Release Date:12/01/1968
Concerto for an Exile
Character:Un acteur au théâtre
Release Date:02/01/1968
The Authentic Trial of Carl Emmanuel Jung
Character:L'Avocat de la Défense
Release Date:27/12/1967
Judoka-Secret Agent
Character:Thomas Perkins
Release Date:24/07/1967
Order of the Daisy
Character:Lastac / Lataque, expert en écritures / Le juge (voice)
Release Date:20/01/1967
Is Paris Burning?
Character:Debu-Bridel (uncredited)
Release Date:26/10/1966
Your Money or Your Life
Character:Speaker at the shy people's club
Release Date:26/04/1966
Comédie
Character:L'homme (M)
Release Date:01/01/1966
Hail! Mafia
Character:Hyman
Release Date:10/08/1965
The Ghostly Rental
Character:Kernan
Release Date:17/04/1965
The Buddies
Character:Lamendin
Release Date:15/01/1965
Behold a Pale Horse
Character:Reporter
Release Date:14/08/1964
The Little Misses
Character:L'elève
Release Date:14/07/1964
Jaloux comme un tigre
Character:The grimacing motorist
Release Date:16/06/1964
Le petit Nicolas
Character:The father
Release Date:01/01/1964
Snobs!
Character:Charles Dufaut
Release Date:05/09/1962
The Trial
Character:Priest
Release Date:25/08/1962
The Immoral Moment
Character:Mercier
Release Date:18/07/1962
Crime Does Not Pay
Character:Acteur
Release Date:06/07/1962
Le bureau des mariages
Character:
Release Date:22/04/1962
Adorable Liar
Character:Albert
Release Date:02/02/1962
The Door Slams
Character:Georges
Release Date:21/12/1960
The Itchy Palm
Character:Nobert
Release Date:03/02/1960
Les Trois Sœurs
Character:Andreï Prodarov
Release Date:31/01/1960
A Bullet in the Gun Barrel
Character:
Release Date:19/11/1958
It Happened in Aden
Character:Sinclair
Release Date:22/08/1956
Television Appearances
Au siècle de Maupassant, contes et nouvelles du XIXe
Character:Le Grand Loustalot
Le Silence de l'épervier
Character:Antoine Carsac
Maigret
Character:Guillaume Serre
Maigret
Character:Sir Lampson
Le Tiroir secret
Character:Philippe Jolivet
Le Génie du faux
Character:Constantin Escher
Smiley's People
Character:Anton Grigoriev
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Character:Self
La Confession d'un enfant du siècle
Character:Smith
Le Grand Échiquier
Character:Self
Out 1
Character:Thomas
Samedi soir
Character:Self
Les Cent Livres des Hommes
Character:Socrates
Images
