RIP Michael Lonsdale

 

Anglo-French actor Michael Lonsdale, who played the villain opposite Roger Moore's James Bond in the 1979 film Moonraker, died at the age of 89 in his Paris home on September 21, 2020. Lonsdale had a varied career in film, TV, radio and stage. Before becoming a Bond villain, he played the Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel in 1973 political thriller “The Day of the Jackal”. He later appeared as Jean-Pierre in 1998 US action film “Ronin”, alongside Robert De Niro, and as Papa in Steven Spielberg's 2005 historical thriller “Munich”. Lonsdale’s only Euro-western was as the French voice of Bartleby in 2007’s “Go West: A Lucky Luke Adventure”.