One of the great advantages of streaming services like Amazon Prime is the ready availability of great movies from the past. With few exceptions, if you want to see a fondly remembered film, you can find it somewhere in the ether, often at no additional cost, or for a nominal fee. Of course, the streaming services themselves aren’t free, and the monthly costs can get out of control if you’re not careful.

            An actor who appeared in several of my favorite films was Michael Lonsdale (1931-2020), who was equally comfortable in both English- and French-language films. He was born in Paris, the son of an English military officer and French Irish mother. He had an eventful childhood. When living in French Morocco, his father was jailed by the Vichy authorities, charged with treason. The Allies freed him when they liberated Morocco in late 1942.

            I first saw Lonsdale in one of the greatest suspense films ever made, the 1972 Fred Zinneman-directed classic, The Day of the Jackel. If you didn’t see it, it was about a plot to assassinate Charles De Gaulle. While you were fully aware that the plot must have failed, since De Gaulle died of natural causes in 1970, you were convinced it might succeed right up to the end. Lonsdale played French assistant police superintendent Lebel, who doggedly pursued the Jackel, played by Edward Fox. His assistant was a young Derek Jacobi.

            Although he appeared in far more French-language films, he made his English-language roles count. In 1979, he joined the distinguished list of James Bond villains when he played Hugo Dax in Moonraker. Roger Moore was Bond in that one, but in 1986, he appeared with an earlier Bond, Sean Connery, as the abbot in the creepy medieval mystery set in an Italian monastery, The Name of the Rose

            Although he had only a minor role in 1993s The Remains of the Day as a world-weary French diplomat attending a “peace” meeting of Nazi sympathizers at the country house of a hapless Lord Darlington (played by the other Fox brother, James), he had a wonderful scene with star Anthony Hopkins, who brings him a pan of hot water for his aching feet. Hopkins played Lord Darlington’s faithful butler, who is oblivious to his masters Naziism and antisemitism, and the attentions of the housekeeper, played by Emma Thompson. Hugh Grant plays Darlington’s nephew in an early role. It’s a wonderful movie on many levels.

            He appeared in a supporting role again in Ronin, a John Frankenheimer directed heist movie set in France and starring Robert DeNiro and Jean Reno. Lonsdale plays a friend and former associate of Reno’s, who offers him advice while making miniature furniture. As Lonsdale was a bear of a man, the contrast between him and his hobby was amusing. The plot of the film is too complicated to explain, but involved spies, ex spies, and the Irish Republican Army. It’s well worth seeing.

            He had a more substantial role in Steven Spielberg’s 2005 film, Munich, whose plot involves an Israeli team organized to find and kill those responsible for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Lonsdale plays “Papa,” the patriarch of a group of information brokers, who operate a secretive intelligence service, which sells information to the highest bidder. Eric Bana, who plays the leader of the Israeli team, visits Papa at his compound in rural France. The sequence is a highlight of the film.  

            In this long life, Lonsdale appeared in nearly 200 films, mostly French. But while the films I’ve highlighted here are worth seeing in their own right, each was better for Lonsdale having been in them. He had an actor’s voice, perfect English diction, with just the right touch of a French accent. If you haven’t seen it, The Day of the Jackel would be a good place to discover this great actor.

Copyright 2025, Patrick F. Cannon