Michael Lonsdale was in three very memorable spy movies: Munich, The Day of the Jackal and MR.
He will be sorely missed.
I also count Ronin in that group, I loved Mr. Londsdale's brief role, literally as a plot device as the sage who explains the concept of the Ronin.
"...the purposeful slant of his striding figure looked dangerous, as if he was making quickly for something bad that was happening further down the street." -SMERSH on 007 dossier photo, Ch. 6 FRWL.....
Edgar Wright posted on his twitter, that Margaret Nolan has died. She was well known to Bond fans for playing Dink in Goldfinger. She was also the model in Robert Brownjohn's title sequence.
RIP,Margaret.
Have you ever heard of the Emancipation Proclamation?"
I've just started seeing numerous Twitter post that cinematic James Bond #1, Sir Sean Connery has left. Sad news for the Bond community, but certainly a life and career worth celebrating - not just for us Bond fans! RIP Sir Sean
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,495Chief of Staff
Very sad news. Sir Sean will be deeply missed. Everyone remembers him for his key role in the Bond series, but he made other wonderful movies such as The Untuchables, Indiana Jones and the last crusade, The hunt for Red October and many more. RIP.
Doesn't feel real. Such sad news. Goodbye to a true legend. Thank you so much for all you have given us Sir Sean. RIP
Yes, even though he was getting on in age, he was one of those people you think will be around forever. In a way he will be though—he will be in the minds of our Bond fandom forever.
Obviously we all knew this day would come eventually, but wow what a blow. Sir Sean sparked my enduring interest in James Bond and my memories of the joy I experienced watching him onscreen will never fade. Respect. Reverence. Remembrance. -{
Was watching Robin and Marion a few weeks back and marvelled on the Last Film Seen Thread about how out of a stellar cast Sir Sean was the last man standing as all the others had died.
Sad news indeed A man of stature and so many great non-Bond films such as The Hill, The Man Who Would Be King, The Name of the Rose and The Untouchables.
In the excellent recent Bond film bio No Time To Die there was a poignant postscript where the authors had eventually got in touch over the phone to speak to Sir Sean and he was either not that interested or as likely couldn't really remember much of it.
I got his autograph aged 10 at the Bob Hope Pro-Am Gold Tournament in Epsom, Surrey, me and Mum got up early to greet him at the 18th tee. Nice fella, used his own pen (a classy looking number), signed with a flourish.
"This is where we leave you Mr Bond."
Roger Moore 1927-2017
superadoRegent's Park West (CaliforniaPosts: 2,654MI6 Agent
Wow, what a shock, I honestly thought Sir Sean would live to a hundred and when I woke up late this morning I found out through my son on social media. The most recent movies of his I watched were "The Terrorists," "A Bridge Too Far," and "Finding Forrester." Strangely, I've had an impulse to watch DN in the past week and regret not doing so.
"...the purposeful slant of his striding figure looked dangerous, as if he was making quickly for something bad that was happening further down the street." -SMERSH on 007 dossier photo, Ch. 6 FRWL.....
When I was nine, my Mom and Stepdad asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday. Now, having your birthday in the first week of February well and truly sucks; it’s always freezing and miserable. Still, it took me all of a second and a half to answer.
“I want to see Diamonds Are Forever at the Woods Theater.”
And that’s exactly what we did, braving the freezing-cold winds of the Loop to make our way to the Woods Theater, the last of the grand movie palaces in Chicago at the corner of Dearborn and Randolph.
I remember getting there nice and early so we could get the best seats - in the middle, about 1/3 of the way up from the front. And, for the next two hours I got to see the most larger-than-life character in movie history being portrayed by the most perfect actor to ever portray him, on a screen three times as big as our house.
Sean Connery as James Bond was (along with Ernie Banks) my first hero. He was smart. He was cool. He was tough. He was graceful. And he could wear the hell out of a tuxedo no matter how exotic the location. To a kid living in a small, rural town at the farthest edge of the suburbs, Sean Connery made me want to see as much of the world as possible. Thanks to my chosen profession, I’ve been lucky enough to see a great deal of it. And, whenever I’ve been overseas, from London to Rome to Tangier to Cape Town to Hong Kong, I’ve always thought of Mr. Connery as I’ve walked their streets.
When I was a kid, I learned how to kiss watching him in Goldfinger on the ABC Sunday Night Movie. I stood in front of the bathroom mirror trying to teach myself how to raise a single eyebrow like only he could. I ended up perfecting it with my right eyebrow, but I never could get the left one to go up independently. I learned to tough things out - I always pretended my poor dentist was Blofeld and I would refuse to give him the satisfaction of knowing that something hurt. And, from my early 20’s until today, I have always, always owned a tuxedo.
Of course, I eventually had to unlearn a lot of the things I learned from Bond movies: a whole lot of sexism, a dash of racism, and that jumping from a great height into a small body of water (in my case, from nearly 30 feet up in a tree into a 3-foot deep, above-ground pool in Ray Murray’s parents’ backyard) is something best left to MI6 operatives and/or their stuntmen.
But the one thing I never outgrew was my love of Sean Connery. Every time I’d go to see him in a film, part of me would still be that eight-year old kid, wide-eyed in the middle of the theater, hanging on every word.
The Man Who Would Be King, The Hunt for Red October, Finding Forrester, The Rock, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and The Untouchables, to name just a few. I can give you at least three quotes from every movie, as I’m sure many of you can, too.
And now he’s gone. Nobody lives forever, which, while sounding like a Bond movie title, is, in fact, a sad truth. But, for as long as there is film, Sean Connery will always be alive to me.
So, thanks for all those films, Mr. Connery. And thanks for changing my life.
I submitted this brief obit yesterday, but I've been away a lot ( Bond-weariness, it can happen) and didn't notice the alumni thread.
And thanks Ernie and Napoleon, two great memorials.
This is very sad, although not unexpected, news. I had heard Sir Sean had suffered several minor ailments over the last few years and I was dreading this day with the inevitability of a cold winter.
I love and admire Sean Connery unashamedly. He is one of the last few genuine movie stars from the sixties. He is rightly famous for OO7, but his sheer body of excellent work is testament to his brilliant career and insurmountable talent.
I can't write a full appreciation of his career so soon after his passing. That will come in a few days, perhaps. Suffice to say, as the first James Bond I saw ( Thunderball, on telly in about 1976) he has influenced my love - and hate - for the character over the following 25 odd years.
Comments
RIP Alan Tomkins -{
RIP Michael Lonsdale -{ he was always good to watch and an interesting actor.
He will be sorely missed.
I also count Ronin in that group, I loved Mr. Londsdale's brief role, literally as a plot device as the sage who explains the concept of the Ronin.
RIP,Margaret.
" I don't listen to hip hop!"
RIP Mr Bond
Yes, even though he was getting on in age, he was one of those people you think will be around forever. In a way he will be though—he will be in the minds of our Bond fandom forever.
RIP
Rest in Peace Sir Sean
1930 – 2020
To my mind, the definitive James Bond.
Sad news indeed A man of stature and so many great non-Bond films such as The Hill, The Man Who Would Be King, The Name of the Rose and The Untouchables.
In the excellent recent Bond film bio No Time To Die there was a poignant postscript where the authors had eventually got in touch over the phone to speak to Sir Sean and he was either not that interested or as likely couldn't really remember much of it.
I got his autograph aged 10 at the Bob Hope Pro-Am Gold Tournament in Epsom, Surrey, me and Mum got up early to greet him at the 18th tee. Nice fella, used his own pen (a classy looking number), signed with a flourish.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
When I was nine, my Mom and Stepdad asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday. Now, having your birthday in the first week of February well and truly sucks; it’s always freezing and miserable. Still, it took me all of a second and a half to answer.
“I want to see Diamonds Are Forever at the Woods Theater.”
And that’s exactly what we did, braving the freezing-cold winds of the Loop to make our way to the Woods Theater, the last of the grand movie palaces in Chicago at the corner of Dearborn and Randolph.
I remember getting there nice and early so we could get the best seats - in the middle, about 1/3 of the way up from the front. And, for the next two hours I got to see the most larger-than-life character in movie history being portrayed by the most perfect actor to ever portray him, on a screen three times as big as our house.
Sean Connery as James Bond was (along with Ernie Banks) my first hero. He was smart. He was cool. He was tough. He was graceful. And he could wear the hell out of a tuxedo no matter how exotic the location. To a kid living in a small, rural town at the farthest edge of the suburbs, Sean Connery made me want to see as much of the world as possible. Thanks to my chosen profession, I’ve been lucky enough to see a great deal of it. And, whenever I’ve been overseas, from London to Rome to Tangier to Cape Town to Hong Kong, I’ve always thought of Mr. Connery as I’ve walked their streets.
When I was a kid, I learned how to kiss watching him in Goldfinger on the ABC Sunday Night Movie. I stood in front of the bathroom mirror trying to teach myself how to raise a single eyebrow like only he could. I ended up perfecting it with my right eyebrow, but I never could get the left one to go up independently. I learned to tough things out - I always pretended my poor dentist was Blofeld and I would refuse to give him the satisfaction of knowing that something hurt. And, from my early 20’s until today, I have always, always owned a tuxedo.
Of course, I eventually had to unlearn a lot of the things I learned from Bond movies: a whole lot of sexism, a dash of racism, and that jumping from a great height into a small body of water (in my case, from nearly 30 feet up in a tree into a 3-foot deep, above-ground pool in Ray Murray’s parents’ backyard) is something best left to MI6 operatives and/or their stuntmen.
But the one thing I never outgrew was my love of Sean Connery. Every time I’d go to see him in a film, part of me would still be that eight-year old kid, wide-eyed in the middle of the theater, hanging on every word.
The Man Who Would Be King, The Hunt for Red October, Finding Forrester, The Rock, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and The Untouchables, to name just a few. I can give you at least three quotes from every movie, as I’m sure many of you can, too.
And now he’s gone. Nobody lives forever, which, while sounding like a Bond movie title, is, in fact, a sad truth. But, for as long as there is film, Sean Connery will always be alive to me.
So, thanks for all those films, Mr. Connery. And thanks for changing my life.
And thanks Ernie and Napoleon, two great memorials.
This is very sad, although not unexpected, news. I had heard Sir Sean had suffered several minor ailments over the last few years and I was dreading this day with the inevitability of a cold winter.
I love and admire Sean Connery unashamedly. He is one of the last few genuine movie stars from the sixties. He is rightly famous for OO7, but his sheer body of excellent work is testament to his brilliant career and insurmountable talent.
I can't write a full appreciation of his career so soon after his passing. That will come in a few days, perhaps. Suffice to say, as the first James Bond I saw ( Thunderball, on telly in about 1976) he has influenced my love - and hate - for the character over the following 25 odd years.
R.I.P. Sir Sean Connery.
You will be missed.