
Michael Lonsdale
Actor · 1931 – 2020 · Paris, France
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.
Movies24
Movie7.5DramaThriller14th-century Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his young novice arrive at a conference to find that several monks have been murdered under mysterious circumstances. To solve the crimes, William must rise up against the Church's authority and fight the shadowy conspiracy of monastery monks using only his intelligence; which is considerable.
The Name of the Rose
1986 · 3.4K votes
Movie6.2ActionAdventureAfter Drax Industries' Moonraker space shuttle is hijacked, secret agent James Bond is assigned to investigate, traveling to California to meet the company's owner, the mysterious Hugo Drax. With the help of scientist Dr. Holly Goodhead, Bond soon uncovers Drax's nefarious plans for humanity, all the while fending off an old nemesis, Jaws, and venturing to Venice, Rio, the Amazon...and even outer space.
Moonraker
1979 · 2.3K votes
Movie7.1DramaHistoryDuring the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and murdered by a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September. In retaliation, the Israeli government recruits a group of Mossad agents to track down and execute those responsible for the attack.
Munich
2005 · 3.1K votes
Movie7.5ActionThrillerAn international assassin known as ‘The Jackal’ is employed by disgruntled French generals to kill President Charles de Gaulle, with a dedicated gendarme on the assassin’s trail.
The Day of the Jackal
1973 · 711 votes
Movie7.0ActionThrillerA briefcase with undisclosed contents – sought by Irish terrorists and the Russian mob – makes its way into criminals' hands. An Irish liaison assembles a squad of mercenaries, or 'ronin', and gives them the thorny task of recovering the case.
Ronin
1998 · 2.8K votes
Movie7.4DramaRomanceA rule-bound head butler's world of manners and decorum in the household he maintains is tested by the arrival of a housekeeper who falls in love with him in post-WWI Britain. The possibility of romance and his master's cultivation of ties with the Nazi cause challenge his carefully maintained veneer of servitude.
The Remains of the Day
1993 · 1.6K votes
Movie7.0AdventureDramaA historical drama set in Roman Egypt, concerning philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria and her relationship with her slave Davus, who is torn between his love for her and the possibility of gaining his freedom by joining the rising tide of Christianity.
Agora
2009 · 1.6K votes
Movie7.3ComedyDramaThe third in a series of films featuring François Truffaut's alter-ego, Antoine Doinel, the story resumes with Antoine being discharged from military service. His sweetheart Christine's father lands Antoine a job as a security guard, which he promptly loses. Stumbling into a position assisting a private detective, Antoine falls for his employers' seductive wife, Fabienne, and finds that he must choose between the older woman and Christine.
Movie7.2WarDramaNear the end of World War II, General Dietrich von Choltitz receives orders to burn down Paris if it becomes clear the Allies are going to invade, or if he's unable to maintain control of the city. After much contemplation, Choltitz ignores orders, enraging the Germans and giving hope to various resistance factions that the city will be liberated. Choltitz, alongside Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling, helps a leader organise his forces.
Movie6.6DramaHistoryPainter Francisco Goya becomes involved with the Spanish Inquisition after his muse, Inés, is arrested by the church for heresy. Her family turns to him, hoping that his connection with fanatical Inquisitor Lorenzo, whom he is painting, can secure her release.
Goya's Ghosts
2006 · 549 votes
Movie7.0DramaComedyThis loosely plotted coming-of-age tale follows the life of 15-year-old Laurent Chevalier as he stumbles his way over the burgeoning swell of adolescence in 1950s France. After having his first sexual experience with a prostitute and dodging the lips of a priest, Chevalier contracts a case of scarlet fever. When the fever leaves him with a heart murmur, Chevalier is placed in a sanatorium, along with his over-attentive and adulterous mother.
Movie7.5ComedyThis Surrealist film, with a title referencing the Communist Manifesto, strings together short incidents based on the life of director Luis Buñuel. Presented as chance encounters, these loosely related, intersecting situations, all without a consistent protagonist, reach from the 19th century to the 1970s. Touching briefly on subjects such as execution, pedophilia, incest, and sex, the film features an array of characters, including a sick father and incompetent police officers.
Movie7.2MysteryDramaParis, France, 1942, during the Nazi occupation. Robert Klein, a successful art dealer who benefits from the misfortunes of those who are ruthlessly persecuted, discovers by chance that there is another Robert Klein, apparently a Jewish man; someone with whom he could be mistakenly identified, something dangerous in such harsh times.
Mr. Klein
1976 · 296 votes
Movie6.4ComedyDramaCommissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.
Chacun son cinema ou Ce petit coup au coeur quand la lumiere s'eteint et que le film commence
To Each His Own Cinema
2007 · 160 votes
Movie6.7DramaHistoryA group of Trappist monks reside in the monastery of Tibhirine in Algeria, where they live in harmony with the largely Muslim population. When a bloody conflict between Algeria's army and Muslim Jihadi insurgents disrupts the peace, they are forced to consider fleeing the monastery and deserting the villagers they have ministered to. In the face of deadly violence, the monks wrestle with their faith and their convictions.
Movie6.7ComedyScience FictionHubert de Tartas' life becomes a complete muddle when his wife's grandfather is unearthed after having spent 65 years in frozen hibernation in the polar circle. After being de-frosted, the Hibernating Man believes it is still the beginning of the century. Nothing is spared to keep that illusion alive. At the end of his rope, Hubert blurts out the truth and takes the man from Edwardian times on a crazy spree through an ultramodern Twentieth Century.
Hibernatus
1969 · 526 votes
Movie7.4CrimeDramaArrested for an unnamed crime, Josef K. is trapped in a surreal bureaucratic maze where justice is unknowable and guilt is assumed.
Movie5.8ComedyA self-conscious and self-referential adventure into the (pretend) lives of legendary actors in Paris.
Movie7.0MysteryCrimeA switchman at a seaside railway witnesses a murder but does not report it after he finds a suitcase full of money at the scene of the crime.
Movie6.0WarActionDuring WW 2, a Basque shepherd is approached by the underground, who wants him to lead a scientist and his family across the Pyrenees. While being pursued by a sadistic German.
The Passage
1979 · 56 votes
Movie5.9CrimeDramaBiarritz, 1933. Charm and talent assist small-time swindler Serge Alexandre, alias Stavisky, to bribe his way into the centre of French politics. But when his great scam involving millions is exposed, he brings the government to the verge of collapse and the country to the brink of civil war.
Stavisky...
1974 · 127 votes
Movie7.1CrimeDramaJulie Kohler is prevented from suicide by her mother. She leaves home with the intent to track down, charm and kill five men who do not know her. What is her goal? What is her purpose?
Movie6.1DramaWhile Erendira, a beautiful teenage girl, has a surreal mystical vision, her grandmother's house catches on fire and burns to the ground. Her grandmother holds Erendira responsible and, in order to extract restitution from the girl, forces her into prostitution. Erendira's surreal mystical experiences continue while her grandmother grows rich from exploiting her.
Movie5.4DramaComedyA marriage crisis between a writer and his wife leads her to flee to Germany and eventually return with another man, through whom the writer is going to overcome his writer's block.
The Romantic Englishwoman
1975 · 39 votes
Series11
TV6.0Talk ShowA talk show presented by Michel Drucker
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975 · 2 votes
TV8.0Talk ShowNewsLe Grand Échiquier is a French variety television program created and presented by Jacques Chancel. It aired at 8:30 pm on the first channel of the ORTF from January 12, 1972 to July 12, 1972, then on the second color channel of the ORTF from September 1972 to December 1974, and finally on Antenne 2 from January 1975 to December 21, 1989. The program returned to France 2 on December 20, 2018 and is hosted by Anne-Sophie Lapix.
Le Grand Échiquier
1972 · 3 votes
TV5.0DocumentaryCiné regards
1978 · 1 votes
- TV6.0Talk Show
Samedi soir
1971 · 1 votes
TV7.9CrimeMysteryThe pragmatic, reserved and refined Maigret investigates murders in his singular unhurried manner and inevitably discovers the truth.
Maigret
1991 · 26 votes
TV7.7DramaMysteryCalled out of retirement to settle the affairs of a friend, Smiley finds his old organization, the Circus, so overwhelmed by political considerations that it doesn't want to know what happened. He begins to follow up the clues of his friends past days, discovering that the clues lead to a high person in the Russian Secret service, and a secret important enough to kill for.
Smiley's People
1982 · 56 votes
TV10.0DocumentaryAction & AdventureLes Cent Livres des Hommes (ORTF, 1969-1973) was a series of literary programs created by Claude Santelli and Françoise Verny, and produced notably by Santelli, Jean Archimbaud, and Serge Moati. Planned for one hundred episodes but completed at thirty-nine, the series aimed to introduce great literary works, 'chefs-d’œuvre', to a younger audience through a mix of dramatization, reading, and documentary techniques. It marked a transfer of cultural legitimacy from writers and critics to a generation of television producers, offering a new model of educational and creative literary broadcasting - 'télévision d’auteur'.
Les Cent Livres des Hommes
1970 · 1 votes
TV10.0DramaMysteryFollowing the May 1968 civil unrest in France, two theater groups rehearse plays by Aeschylus while two solitary individuals wander the Parisian streets hustling the populace for cash.
TV4.3DramaLe Tiroir secret is a 1986 French family drama TV mini-series directed by Michel Boisrond, Edouard Molinaro, Nadine Trintignant and Roger Gillioz. The screenplay was written by Danièle Thompson, Jean-Patrick Manchette, Patrick Besson and Roger Grenier. The music score is by Vladimir Cosma. It was released on DVD in France on 18 October 2006. It tells the story of a woman who suspects that her husband had in fact led a double life.
Le Tiroir secret
1986 · 4 votes
TV4.8DramaAu siècle de Maupassant, contes et nouvelles du XIXe
2009 · 4 votes
TV9.0CrimeLe Génie du faux
1985 · 1 votes