Michael Lonsdale, the British-French actor best known for his role as the villainous Hugo Drax in the Bond film Moonraker, has died at age 89. His agent confirmed this to AFP this morning.
The actor was not incredibly well known in the United States outside of a James Bond film, but his prevalent career that started in the 1950’s and stretched into the last decade was filled with a plethora of film roles. The actor garnered around 200 credits in both French and English films, including radio and tv appearances as well.
His most popular roles aside from Moonraker, are The Day of the Jackal(1973), which he gained a BAFTA nomination for best supporting actor, Robert De Niro and Jean Reno led Ronin(1998), as well as role in Spielberg’s Munich(2005).
His most recent success was in 2011 where he won a César for best supporting actor for the 2010 french film Des hommes et des dieux or Of Gods and Men, it was his third nomination for the award.
Overall, Lonsdale was an actor that garnered some recognition for his lengthy career, but more importantly managed to do it for decades. He made the jump from small french films to a big blockbuster Bond flick, while living a long life.
He passed away at his home in Paris which was the city that bore him in 1931.
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