Ronald Lacey

2022-06-26T23:53:26Z

2A02:C7D:482A:2300:7D62:DD64:D212:3BEA: /* TV */

{{short description|British actor}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ronald Lacey
| image = Ronald Lacey as Arnold Toht.jpg
| caption = Lacey as [[List of Indiana Jones characters#Arnold Ernst Toht|Arnold Toht]] in ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'' (1981)
| birth_name = Ronald William Lacey
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1935|09|28}}
| birth_place = [[Harrow, London|Harrow]], [[Middlesex]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1991|05|15|1935|09|28}}
| death_place = [[London]], England
| education = [[Harrow College|Harrow Weald Grammar School]]
| alma_mater = [[London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]]
| occupation = Actor
| yearsactive = 1959–1991
| spouse = {{marriage|Mela White|1962|1969|end=divorced}}<br />{{marriage|Joanna Baker|1972|1989|end=divorced}}
| children = 3, including [[Rebecca Lacey|Rebecca]]
}}
'''Ronald William Lacey''' (28 September 1935 – 15 May 1991) was an English actor.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|title=Ronald Lacey|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/39908/Ronald-Lacey/biography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311042408/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/39908/Ronald-Lacey/biography|url-status=dead|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|publisher=[[Baseline (database)|Baseline]] & [[All Movie Guide]]|author=Rose of Sharon Winter|date=2014|archive-date=11 March 2014}}</ref> He made numerous television and film appearances over a 30-year period. His roles included [[Harris (Porridge)|Harris]] in ''[[Porridge (1974 TV series)|Porridge]]'' (1977), Frankie in the [[Bud Spencer]] comedy ''[[Charleston (1977 film)|Charleston]]'' (1978), [[Sicherheitsdienst|SD]] agent [[Sturmbannführer]] [[List of Indiana Jones characters#Arnold Ernst Toht|Arnold Ernst Toht]] in ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'' (1981) and the [[List of Blackadder characters#Bishop of Bath and Wells|Bishop of Bath and Wells]] in ''[[Blackadder II]]'' (1986).<ref name=NYT/>

==Early life==
Lacey was born and raised in [[Harrow, Middlesex]]. He received his formal education at [[Harrow College|Harrow Weald Grammar School]]. After a brief period of [[national service]] in the British Armed Forces, he enrolled at the [[London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]] to train as an actor.

==Career==
Lacey began his acting career in 1959 in a television play, ''[[The Secret Agent]]''. His first significant performance was at the [[Royal Court Theatre]] in 1962's ''[[Chips with Everything]]''. Lacey had an unusual 'pug' look, with beady eyes, an upturned nose, liver lips, an overbite, receding chin and no brows. He could scream at a very high pitch. This unique combination of features landed him repeatedly in bizarre roles on both stage and screen, often as seedy, creepy villains. Together with his Welsh background, it helped qualify him for the role of [[Dylan Thomas]], which he played on BBC2 in what critic [[Clive James]] described as a "bravura performance".<ref name="James2017">{{cite book|author=Clive James|title=Clive James On Television|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qN4sDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT236|date=6 April 2017|publisher=Pan Macmillan|isbn=978-1-5098-3243-9|pages=236}}</ref>

Lacey performed on British television throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with roles spanning from a part in [[Kenneth Clark]]'s ''[[Civilisation (TV series)|Civilisation]]'' television series, as the gravedigger, in a re-enactment of the gravedigger scene from ''[[Hamlet]]'', with [[Ian Richardson]] as Hamlet and [[Patrick Stewart]] as Horatio, to a guest shot as the "Strange Young Man" in ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]'' episode "The Joker", and as [[Harris (Porridge)|Harris]] in the sitcom ''[[Porridge (1974 TV series)|Porridge]]'', with the latter finally landing him in the role for which his unusual physical characteristics could be repeatedly used to full advantage.<ref>{{Cite AV media | people =Kenneth Clark| title =Civilisation| medium =Television production| publisher =BBC | location =London, UK|year =1969}}</ref> Disappointed with his acting career by the late 1970s, he began to consider starting a talent agency. Spielberg then cast him as the [[Nazi]] agent [[List of Indiana Jones characters#Arnold Ernst Toht|Arnold Toht]] in ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]''. He followed this with a series of various villain roles for the next five to six years: ''[[Sahara (1983 film)|Sahara]]'' with [[Brooke Shields]], and 1985's ''[[Red Sonja (1985 film)|Red Sonja]]'' with [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]], in addition to 1982's ''[[Firefox (film)|Firefox]]'' with [[Clint Eastwood]], in which he played a Russian scientist helping the West behind the [[Iron Curtain]]. He then made two movies for Ice International Films: ''Assassinator'' starring alongside John Ryan and George Murcell, and ''Into the Darkness'', starring with [[Donald Pleasence]], John Ryan, and Brett Paul. He performed comic monologues on ''The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog'', which was recorded 1982, and broadcast by [[Channel 4]] in 1983.<ref>[https://www.bright-thoughts.co.uk/monologues-02.html] The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog production website</ref>

Lacey played a number of villainous roles and was known for his trademark smile, which would turn into a gleaming malicious leer. He also had a rather large mole on his left cheek, which he chose not to have removed, as well as a highly distinctive voice. In 1983's ''[[Trenchcoat (film)|Trenchcoat]]'', he used the mole as a beauty mark in his role as Princess Aida, a mysterious and sleazy [[drag queen]] on the island of [[Malta]]. His other [[Drag (clothing)|drag]] role was in ''Invitation to the Wedding'' from 1985, in which he played a husband/wife couple.

==Personal life==

Lacey married twice, first to the actress Mela White in 1962 (she married him under the name Brompton as this was her second marriage). They had two children, actors [[Rebecca Lacey]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Lynda Bellingham|title=Lost and Found: My Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WagQBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA256|date=28 October 2014|publisher=Ebury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4464-0795-0|pages=256}}</ref> and Jonathan Lacey. Following their divorce, he married Joanna Baker in 1972, with whom he had a son.

==Death==
Lacey was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer on 25 April 1991. He died less than one month later, on 15 May 1991, at the age of 55.

==Filmography==
===Films===
* 1962 ''[[The Boys (1962 British film)|The Boys]]'' as Billy Herne
* 1963 ''[[Doctor in Distress (film)|Doctor in Distress]]'' as Café Customer (uncredited)
* 1964 ''[[Of Human Bondage (1964 film)|Of Human Bondage]]'' as "Matty" Mathews
* 1964 ''[[The Comedy Man]]'' as First Assistant Director (uncredited)
* 1965 ''[[Catch Us If You Can (film)|Catch Us If You Can]]'' as Yeano, Beatnik
* 1967 ''The White Bus''
* 1967 ''[[The Fearless Vampire Killers]]'' as Village Idiot
* 1967 ''[[How I Won the War]]'' as Spool
* 1969 ''[[Take a Girl Like You (film)|Take a Girl Like You]]'' as Graham
* 1969 ''[[Otley (film)|Otley]]'' as Curtis
* 1970 ''[[Tintin and the Temple of the Sun]]'' as Thompson (English version, voice, uncredited)
* 1971 ''[[Say Hello to Yesterday]]'' as Car Park Attendant (uncredited)
* 1971 ''[[Macbeth (1971 film)|Macbeth]]'' as Macbeths Man, Killed Banquo (uncredited)
* 1971 ''[[Crucible of Terror]]'' as Michael Clare
* 1972 ''[[Disciple of Death]]'' as Parson
* 1973 ''[[Gawain and the Green Knight (1973 film)|Gawain and the Green Knight]]'' as Oswald
* 1973 ''[[The Final Programme (film)|The Final Programme]]'' as "Shades"
* 1975 ''[[Mister Quilp]]'' as Harris
* 1976 ''[[The Likely Lads (film)|The Likely Lads]]'' as Ernie
* 1977 ''[[Charleston (1977 film)|Charleston]]'' as Frankie
* 1979 ''[[Zulu Dawn]]'' as Norris Newman
* 1980 ''[[Nijinsky (film)|Nijinsky]]'' as [[Léon Bakst]]
* 1981 ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'' as Major Arnold Ernst Toht
* 1982 ''[[Firefox (film)|Firefox]]'' as Dr. Maxim Ilyich Semelovsky
* 1982 ''[[Tangiers (1982 film)|Tangiers]]'' as Wedderburn
* 1983 ''Invitation to the Wedding'' as Clara / Charles Eatwell
* 1983 ''[[Trenchcoat (film)|Trenchcoat]]'' as Princess Aida
* 1983 ''[[Yellowbeard]]'' as Man With Parrot
* 1983 ''[[Sahara (1983 film)|Sahara]]'' as "Beg"
* 1984 ''[[Making the Grade (1984 film)|Making the Grade]]'' as Nicky
* 1984 ''[[Sword of the Valiant]]'' as Oswald
* 1984 ''[[The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension]]'' as President Widmark
* 1984 ''The Bengal Lancers!''
* 1985 ''[[Flesh & Blood (film)|Flesh + Blood]]'' as Cardinal
* 1985 ''[[Red Sonja (1985 film)|Red Sonja]]'' as Ikol
* 1985 ''[[Minder on the Orient Express]]'' as Harry Ridler
* 1986 ''[[Aces Go Places 4]]'' as Leader of the villains
* 1986 ''[[Sky Bandits (1986 film)|Sky Bandits]]'' as Fritz
* 1986 ''Lone Runner'' as Misha
* 1986 ''Into the Darkness'' as Stewart Andrew Golding
* 1988 ''Jailbird Rock'' as Warden Bauman
* 1988 ''Manifesto'' as The Conductor
* 1988 ''Dawn of an Evil Millennium''
* 1989 ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]'' as [[Heinrich Himmler]] (uncredited)
* 1989 ''[[Valmont (film)|Valmont]]'' as José
* 1989 ''[[Stalingrad (1989 film)|Stalingrad]]'' as [[Winston Churchill]]
* 1992 ''The Assassinator'' as Stewart
* 1992 ''Landslide'' as Fred Donner
* 1993 ''Angely smerti'' (final film role)

===TV===
* 1960 ''[[Deadline Midnight (TV series)|Deadline Midnight]]'' as Jensen
* 1961 ''[[A Chance of Thunder]]'' as Johnny Travers
* 1964 ''[[The Likely Lads]]'' as Ernie
* 1965 ''Day Out for Lucy''
* 1965 ''Barnaby Spoot and the Exploding Whoopee Cushion'' as Justin Fribble
* 1965 ''Fable'' as Len
* 1965 ''[[Gideon's Way]]'' as Jerry Blake
* 1966 ''Who's a Good Boy Then?'' as Billy Oates
* 1967 ''Boa Constrictor'' as Frankie "Three"
* 1967 ''[[Great Expectations (1967 TV series)|Great Expectations]]'' as Orlick
* 1967 ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]'' as Strange Young Man (episode "The Joker")
* 1968 ''The Avengers'' as Humbert (parody of Peter Lorre) (episode "Legacy of Death")
* 1965-1968 ''[[Theatre 625]]'' – "Mille miglia", "The Burning Bush", "Firebrand", "The Nutter"
* 1968 ''Game, Set and Match''
* 1968 ''[[Civilisation (TV series)|Civilisation]]'' – Episode 6: Protest and Communication  as Grave Digger ([[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] [[Hamlet]])
* 1969 ''It Wasn't Me'' as George
* 1969 ''[[Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)]]''
* 1969 ''Target Generation'' as Joe Manx
* 1969 ''These Men Are Dangerous''
* 1970 ''[[The Adventures of Don Quick]]'' as Sergeant Sam Czopanser
* 1970 ''[[The Vessel of Wrath]]'' (1970) as Controleur
* 1970 ''[[Catweazle]]'' as Ted "Tearful Ted"
* 1971-1972 ''[[Jason King (TV series)|Jason King]]'' as Ryland
* 1972 ''[[The Protectors]]'' (1 episode ''King Con'') as Cribbe
* 1973 ''[[Last of the Summer Wine]]'' as Walter
* 1973 ''The Adventures of [[Don Quixote]]'' as Monk
* 1973 ''[[Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?]]'' as Ernie
* 1975 ''The Fight Against Slavery'' as [[Charles James Fox]]
* 1975 ''[[The Sweeney]]'' (Thou Shalt Not Kill!) as Barry Monk
* 1976 ''[[Thriller (UK TV series)|Thriller]]'' (Episode ''The Next Victim'') as Bartlett
* 1976 ''[[Our Mutual Friend (1976 TV serial)|Our Mutual Friend]]'' as Mr. Venus
* 1976 ''[[The New Avengers (TV series)|The New Avengers]]'' as Harry "Hong Kong Harry"
* 1976 ''A Story to Frighten the Children'' as Lang
* 1976 ''[[The Duchess of Duke Street]]'' (Episode nine: As art dealer) as Mr. Shephard
* 1977 ''[[Porridge (1974 TV series)|Porridge]]'' as [[Harris (Porridge)|Harris]]
* 1978 ''[[All Creatures Great and Small (1978 TV series)|All Creatures Great and Small]]'' "The Last Furlong" as Stewie Brannon
* 1978 ''Dylan'' (TV play) as [[Dylan Thomas#Media depictions|Dylan Thomas]]
* 1978 ''[[The Mayor of Casterbridge (1978 TV serial)|The Mayor of Casterbridge]]'' (mini series) as Jopp
* 1979 ''[[Blakes 7]]'' (1 episode "Killer") as Tynus
* 1979 ''Tropic'' (TV series) as Geoffrey Turvey
* 1981 ''Tiny Revolutions''
* 1982 ''P.O.S.H'' as Mr. Vicarage
* 1983 ''[[Hart to Hart]]'' ("Hostage Harts")
* 1983 ''[[The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983 film)|The Hound of the Baskervilles]]'' as [[Inspector Lestrade]]
* 1983 ''The Rothko Conspiracy''
* 1984 ''[[Magnum, P.I.]]'' as Archer Hayes
* 1985 ''[[Connie (TV series)|Connie]]'' as Crawder
* 1985 ''[[Minder on the Orient Express]]'' as Harry Ridler
* 1985 ''[[Money (Blackadder)|Blackadder II]]'' as The [[Bishop of Bath and Wells]]
* 1987 ''[[The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (TV series)|The Sign of Four]]'' as Thaddeus Sholto / Bartholomew Sholto
* 1988 ''[[The Great Escape II: The Untold Story]]'' as [[Winston Churchill]]
* 1989 ''[[The Nightmare Years]]'' as Emil Luger
* 1990 ''Face to Face'' as Dr. Brinkman
* 1991 ''The Strauss Dynasty'' as Bauer
Haggard TV Series 1990

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0479951}}
* {{Find a Grave|12811}}

{{Portalbar|Biography}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacey, Ronald}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]
[[Category:Deaths from liver cancer]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:English male television actors]]
[[Category:English people of Welsh descent]]
[[Category:People from Harrow, London]]

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Ronald Lacey