James Bond Villain Michael Lonsdale Dead At 89:
British-French actor Michael Lonsdale, best known for playing Hugo Drax in the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker, has died in Paris aged 89, his agent has told AFP.
Lonsdale was also known in the English-speaking world as detective Claude Lebel [in] 1973's spy thriller The Day of the Jackal and as. M. in 1993's The Remains of the Day. In 1986 he starred opposite Sean Connery in the medieval drama The Name of the Rose.
He also appeared in Steven Spielberg's 2005 historical drama Munich, alongside future James Bond star Daniel Craig, and in 1998's action thriller Ronin.
[...] Lonsdale was born in Paris to English and Irish-French parents, and initially raised in Guernsey, then later in Casablanca, Morocco. He later returned to live in Paris, making his stage debut aged 24. He made his film debut in 1956.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Friday September 25 2020, @10:16AM (15 children)
I guess James has the last laugh then, as per usual as he bangs some bimbo and the credits start to roll. If it wasn't for that Sir Roger Moore died three years ago. But still in theory or fantasy, or just the movie.
It's interesting tho that if you have just been in a Bond movie, or similarly large franchise of movies you are forever linked to it and no matter what you do after you'll be remembered and linked for that -- it also seems to go for Star Trek, Star Wars and a few others. I didn't even reflect upon his name until they mentioned Moonraker so I guess it worked.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Friday September 25 2020, @10:47AM (3 children)
> forever linked to it
Some manage to overcome their megafranchise:
Legolas or Will Turner?
Boromir or Sharpe?
Han Solo or Indiana Jones?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday September 25 2020, @12:02PM
Mitzi Del Bra or Agent Smith or Elrond
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by looorg on Friday September 25 2020, @12:32PM (1 child)
No, or not many, rules without exceptions. But as noted it's probably just as easy to find people where it turns out to be true. Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher are eternally linked. Somewhat even more sad is that Alec Guinness is linked to it even tho he was so much better in so many more movies. Harrison Ford is some really weird exception that somehow managed to get linked in with several big movie franchises -- still not sure which is bigger or better, but I do think I have a slight preference for Doctor Jones.
In the cases mentioned tho the people are just linked to some other mega franchise instead such as LoTR etc.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 25 2020, @04:54PM
Most actors remain well-known for their big hit role because most only get to be in ONE hit, if they get to be in a hit at all.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday September 25 2020, @11:56AM (9 children)
Notable exceptions
Not linked only to a single series
- Sean Connery
- Patrick Stewart
Not remembered even if played in the main character in a series:
- George Lazenby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Insightful) by looorg on Friday September 25 2020, @12:38PM (6 children)
Sean Connery is an exception I guess but when he dies I think he will forever be linked by being the original, or real, James Bond. Everyone is just bad compared to him. It's the one that he will always be mentioned with even tho I think he has been in several movies that are better then any of the Bond films he did star in. I admit to having a real soft spot for The Hill.
Patric Stewart is known for his stellar voice work on American Dad. That Star Trek thing is just a side gig.
Poor George. He only got to be 007 in one movie and then never asked to return, auch. But he did transition it into a somewhat anonymous career as an actor anyway. It's just that I can't even remember anything he was in after that.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday September 25 2020, @12:48PM (3 children)
Because he wasn't.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by looorg on Friday September 25 2020, @12:54PM (2 children)
The weird thing is that he was in lots of things after the Bond movie. But it's all just nothing I had bother seeing or remembering. I'm looking thru the list and can't remember if I have seen any of it, if I did I didn't even notice him. He turned into one of those side-actors that are in lots of things but you just don't even pay him any attention. Apparently he was in episodes of Kung Fu, Knight Rider, Baywatch, Pretender, Batman Beyond but I just don't have any memory of seeing him at all.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0493872/ [imdb.com]
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday September 25 2020, @01:26PM (1 child)
Apparently, so he was.
I looked on Wikipedia [wikipedia.org], perhaps this is the explanation:
Doesn't matter if true or false, it does matter what others in the movie industry hears about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Friday September 25 2020, @09:21PM
I always heard that after the first one Lazenby demanded too much money. He thought that they wouldn't want to switch actors again and would just pay. Probably fits with the arrogance.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 25 2020, @08:29PM (1 child)
Sean Connery *is* James Bond. Anything else is garbage.
Roger Moore *is* The Saint [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 26 2020, @04:13PM
I thought Daniel Craig did a good job in taking the character back toward a Sean Connery-esque direction without being a copy. My favorite recent Bond.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday September 25 2020, @02:48PM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 25 2020, @09:26PM
While that was near the pinnacle of movie-making, it starred Sean Connery not Michael Lonsdale.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 25 2020, @02:01PM
God, Moonraker was an AWFUL movie. Laser shootout in space. "Jaws" and his girlfriend. Awful Roger Moore acting. Ugh.
The book was WAY better, by the way.
(Score: 2) by fliptop on Friday September 25 2020, @01:06PM (1 child)
I've always put him in the same category of great character actors like Chris Cooper and Gary Oldman. His part in Ronin was small, but very convincing, and he was great in The Day of the Jackal. It's one of my favorite movies.
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday September 25 2020, @01:44PM
(For comparison, I'd say the James Bond character itself is a character, and even though there's a lot of overlap between Connery and Moore's characterisations, Connery played it more believably, and Moore was more of a caricature.)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Informative) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Friday September 25 2020, @02:10PM (1 child)
Moonraker was one of the worst movies of all time. Even if it had been a low-budget movie, if would have been atrocious. It's one of the best arguments those who hate the eighties put forward to explain why that decade should be forever forgotten - and that's saying something, since it came out in 79.
If that's the only major movie Michael Lonsdale is remembered for, that's really sad for the poor guy.
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Friday September 25 2020, @03:53PM
Yeah it's a bad movie, but for me it is a guilty pleasure to watch. YMMV of course.
I remember his role in Ronin too, great movie.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 27 2020, @04:04AM
When this rocket lifts off, I shall be leaving you in your own private crematorium. Mr. Bond, Dr. Goodhead, I bid you - farewell.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079574/quotes/qt3041557 [imdb.com]