Acting · Paris, France · Born May 24, 1931
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.
MovieThe Life of Mirrors
2025
MovieAfrican Glory
2024
as Christopher Columbus
MovieThe Outsider
2023
as Narrator (Voice)
An Oral History of: The Name of the Rose
2022
as Self (archive footage)
MovieLe Fantôme de Laurent Terzieff
2020
as Self
MovieDegas and I
2019
as Edgar Degas
MovieSalvador Dalí: Génie tragi-comique
2019
as Narrator
MovieBazin's Film
2017
as Narrator
MovieSculpt
2016
MovieThe Mysteries of Paris: Jacques Rivette's Out 1 Revisited
2016
as Self
MovieJean-Marie Serreau, découvreur de théâtres
2016
as Self
MovieThe First, the Last
2016
as Jean-Berchmans
MovieLes Filles au Moyen-Âge
2016
as Daniel
MovieThe Visit
2015
as Self
MovieJ.R.R. Tolkien: Designer of Worlds
2014
as (voice)
MovieN: The Madness Of Reason
2014
as Narrator
MovieMaestro
2014
as Cedric Rovère
MovieRosenn
2014
as (voice)
MovieLe Renard jaune
2013
as Jean Virno
MovieGebo and the Shadow
2012
as Gebo
MovieVeilleurs dans la nuit - Une journée monastique à l'Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux
2011
as Narrateur
MovieThe Cardboard Village
2011
as Old Priest
MovieFree Men
2011
as Si Kaddour Ben Ghabrit
MovieHitler in Hollywood
2011
as Michael Lonsdale
MovieTiteuf
2011
as Le psy (voice)
MovieOf Gods and Men
2010
as Luc
MovieYou'll Miss Me
2009
as Max
MovieAgora
2009
as Theon
TVAu siècle de Maupassant, contes et nouvelles du XIXe
2009
as Le Grand Loustalot
MovieThe Man from London
2008
as Kocsmáros (voice)
TVLe Silence de l'épervier
2008
as Antoine Carsac
Les amants cinéma
2008
as Self
MovieTo Each His Own Cinema
2007
as The old blind man (segment "Le Don")
MovieHeartbeat Detector
2007
as Mathias Jüst
MovieGo West: A Lucky Luke Adventure
2007
as Bartleby (voice)
MovieThe Last Mistress
2007
as le vicomte Prony
Les Mains d'Andréa
2006
MovieGoya's Ghosts
2006
as Inquisitor General
MovieJeanne, à petits pas
2006
as Louis
MovieMunich
2005
as Papa
MovieGentille
2005
as Jean
MovieThe Separation
2005
as Paul Doumer
MovieBye Bye Blackbird
2005
as Robert
MovieThe Perfume of the Lady in Black
2005
as Professor Stangerson
MovieInvisible
2005
as Le gardien
MovieUnder a False Name
2004
as David
MovieAdieu
2004
as Serge
MovieFive Times Two
2004
as Bernard
MovieLe Furet
2003
as Don Salvadore
MovieThe Mystery of the Yellow Room
2003
as Stangerson
MovieKaena: The Prophecy
2003
as Opaz (voice)
MovieLe Mythe Cathare
2002
as Narrator
MovieThose Facing Us
2001
as Mikaël
MovieDelphine Seyrig, portrait d'une comète
2000
as Self
MovieSpeaking of Buñuel
2000
as Self
MovieInside 'Moonraker'
2000
as Self
MovieActors
2000
as Man walking down the street
Is Dead - Portrait incomplet de Gertrude Stein
2000
as Narrator (voice)
MovieA Monkey's Tale
1999
as Maître Flavius (Voice)
MovieRonin
1998
as Jean-Pierre
MovieLet There Be Light!
1998
as Monseigneur Loublié
MovieDon Juan
1998
as Don Luis
MovieMauvais Genre
1997
as Honoré de Balzac
MovieJean Eustache's Wasted Breath
1997
as (voice)
MovieNoise of Love and War
1997
as The director
MovieLa Plante Humaine
1996
as Michel
MovieNelly and Monsieur Arnaud
1995
as Dollabella
MovieJefferson in Paris
1995
as Louis XVI
Vroum-vroum
1995
MovieDieu sait quoi
1994
as Narrator
MovieThe Remains of the Day
1993
as Dupont D'Ivry
MovieWoyzeck
1993
as Le capitaine
MovieL'ordre du jour
1993
as Stark
MovieMy Life Is Hell
1991
as Gabriel
TVMaigret
1991
as Guillaume Serre
Seul face au crime
1991
as Procuratore
MovieOut 1
1990
as Thomas
MovieFilm sur Georges Perec
1990
as Self
Cela s'appelle l'amour
1989
as Self
MovieSouvenir
1989
as Xavier Lorion
MovieEarthen Man
1989
as (voice)
MovieThe Tribulations of Balthazar Kober
1988
as Cammerschulze
MovieDer Madonna-Mann
1987
as Tanzmann
TVLe Tiroir secret
1986
as Philippe Jolivet
The Abbey of Crime: Umberto Eco's 'The Name of the Rose'
1986
as Self
MovieThe Name of the Rose
1986
as The Abbot
Rendez-vous manqués
1986
as Moralès
MovieL'air d'aimer
1986
as Raymond
MovieEmile Reynaud
1986
as Narrator
MovieThe Memory of the Eye E.J. Marey
1986
as Narrator
MovieBilly Ze Kick
1985
as Commissaire Bellanger
TVLe Génie du faux
1985
as Constantin Escher
MovieThe Insomniac on the Bridge
1985
as Antonie
MovieThe Holcroft Covenant
1985
as Ernst Manfredi
MovieGood King Dagobert
1984
as Saint Eloi
The Colour of Words
1984
as Self
MovieThe Judge
1984
as Le docteur
MovieChronopolis
1983
as Narrator (voice)
MovieUne jeunesse
1983
as Béjardy
MovieErendira
1983
as Senator Onésimo Sanchez
MovieThe Boulugres
1983
as Le roi (voice)
MovieLa Rényon lontan
1983
as Narrator (voice)
MovieEnigma
1982
as Bodley
TVSmiley's People
1982
as Anton Grigoriev
MovieMersonne ne m'aime
1982
as Commissioner Bancau
MovieSweet Inquest on Violence
1982
as Ash, the financier
MovieLe rose et le blanc
1982
as Léon
MovieTrompe-l'oeil
1982
as Self (voice)
MovieAlone
1981
as Ludovic
MovieThe Games of Countess Dolingen
1981
as Bertrand Haines-Pearson
MovieThe Bunker
1981
as Martin Bormann
MovieUn paquebot dans la tête
1981
as Roland Gougean-Roland
Jean-Sans-Terre
1980
as Jean Papeuil
MovieMoonraker
1979
as Hugo Drax
MovieThe Passage
1979
as Renoudot
Ève avait l'éclat métallique de l'été
1979
MovieThe Left-Handed Woman
1978
as The Waiter
MovieThe Risk of Living
1978
as narrator
TVCiné regards
1978
as Self
MovieAurais dû faire gaffe... le choc est terrible
1977
MovieA Dirty Story
1977
as The voyeur
MovieThe Accuser
1977
as Abéraud
MovieThe Devil in the Box
1977
as Georges Aubert
MovieBartleby
1976
as L'Huissier
MovieMr. Klein
1976
as Pierre
MovieCygne II
1976
as Narrator (voice)
MovieSon nom de Venise dans Calcutta désert
1976
as The Vice Consul of Lahore
MovieScrambled Eggs
1976
as The President of the Republic
La nuit du beau marin peut-être?
1976
as Boris
Les Écrans déchirés
1976
as Michael
MovieNé
1975
as Self
MovieThe Pink Telephone
1975
as M. Morrison, président de la Fielding
MovieMad Enough to Kill
1975
as Stephane Mostri
MovieThe Romantic Englishwoman
1975
as Swan
MovieIndia Song
1975
as Le Vice-Consul de Lahore
MovieThe Track
1975
as David Sutter
MovieSpecial Section
1975
as Pierre Pucheu - le ministre de l'intérieur
MovieA Whale That Had a Toothache
1975
as Le peintre
MovieAloïse
1975
as le médecin
MovieGalileo
1975
as Cardinal Barberini (later Pope Urban VIII)
MovieSerious as Pleasure
1975
as Inspecteur Fournier
TVLes Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975
as Self
TVLa Confession d'un enfant du siècle
1974
as Smith
MovieThe Suspects
1974
as Judge Souftries
MovieNo Pockets in a Shroud
1974
as Raymond
MovieThe Phantom of Liberty
1974
as The Hatter
TVMalaventure
1974
as Georges Mortier
MovieCaravan to Vaccarès
1974
as Duc de Croyter
MovieThe Truth About the Imaginary Passion of an Unknown
1974
as Le reporter TV / Ponce Pilate
MovieStavisky...
1974
as Docteur Mézy
MovieLa Grande Paulette
1974
as Paul
MovieSuccessive Slidings of Pleasure
1974
as The Judge
MovieRight to the city
1974
as Narrator
MovieFilm sur Hans Bellmer
1974
as Narrator
MovieLes grands sentiments font les bons gueuletons
1973
as Stéphane
MovieThe Girl with the Cello
1973
as Philippe Lariel
MovieOut 1: Spectre
1973
as Thomas
MovieThe Day of the Jackal
1973
as Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel
MovieAutumn
1972
as Julien, le réalisateur
MovieChut !
1972
as Sergel
MovieLes Années Lumière
1972
as Narrator (voice)
MovieThere Once Was a Cop
1972
as Commissioner Lucas
TVLe Grand Échiquier
1972
as Self
MovieThe Old Maid
1972
as Monod
MovieSpring
1971
as L'homme qui fuit
TVOut 1
1971
as Thomas
MovieLaw Breakers
1971
as Inspector Bertrand
MovieMurmur of the Heart
1971
as Father Henri
MoviePapa, the Lil' Boats
1971
as Hippolyte the brother of Marylène
MovieJaune, Le Soleil
1971
as Un juif
Samedi soir
1971
as Self
MovieLe revolver et la rose
1970
as Philippe de la Tour / Dimitri Korkesky
MovieUn troisième
1970
as Le réalisateur
MovieLa Fenêtre
1970
as Bracquemont
TVLes Cent Livres des Hommes
1970
as Socrates
MovieThe Stud
1970
as Commissioner Donald Both
MovieWinter
1969
as Julien & Marc
MovieDestroy, She Said
1969
as Stein
MovieHibernatus
1969
as Edouard Loriebat
MovieThe Nail Clippers
1969
as Le mari
MovieThe Big Wash
1968
as Delaroche
MovieStolen Kisses
1968
as Georges Tabard
MovieThe Bride Wore Black
1968
as Morane
MovieThe Man in the Buick
1968
as L'inspecteur Farjon de la P.J.
Zoo Story
1968
as Peter
MovieConcerto for an Exile
1968
as Un acteur au théâtre
MovieThe Authentic Trial of Carl Emmanuel Jung
1967
as L'Avocat de la Défense
MovieJudoka-Secret Agent
1967
as Thomas Perkins
MovieOrder of the Daisy
1967
as Lastac / Lataque, expert en écritures / Le juge (voice)
MovieIs Paris Burning?
1966
as Debu-Bridel (uncredited)
MovieYour Money or Your Life
1966
as Speaker at the Shy People's Club
MovieComédie
1966
as L'homme (M)
MovieHail! Mafia
1965
as Hyman
MovieThe Ghostly Rental
1965
as Kernan
MovieThe Buddies
1965
as Lamendin
MovieBehold a Pale Horse
1964
as Reporter
MovieThe Little Misses
1964
as L'elève
MovieJaloux comme un tigre
1964
as The grimacing motorist
MovieLe Petit Nicolas
1964
as The father
MovieSnobs!
1962
as Charles Dufaut
MovieThe Trial
1962
as Priest
MovieThe Immoral Moment
1962
as Mercier
MovieCrime Does Not Pay
1962
as Acteur
Le bureau des mariages
1962
MovieAdorable Liar
1962
as Albert
MovieThe Door Slams
1960
as Georges
MovieThe Itchy Palm
1960
as Nobert
MovieLes Trois Sœurs
1960
as Andreï Prodarov
MovieA Bullet in the Gun Barrel
1958
MovieIt Happened in Aden
1956
as Sinclair
