The theater and the cinema have just lost one of theirs with the disappearance of Michael Lonsdale.
Michael Lonsdale was born to an English father and a French mother on May 24, 1931 in Paris (75016). As a child, he moved with his family and then to London. In 1939, he followed his family to Morocco where his father was a fertilizer trader. The latter, arrested by the Vichy authorities, was freed in 1942 by the allies landed in North Africa. It is at this moment that the young Michael gets acquainted with the cinema thanks to the screenings for the American troops.
HIS DEBUT AT THE CINEMA
Back in France in 1946, he discovered the theater thanks to Roger Blin. At the age of 13, he moved with his mother near Les Invalides (75007) until his death.
He first intended to paint and then took drama lessons with Tania Balachova in the early 1950s.
Thanks to François Truffaut and his role in “The Bride Was in Black” and “Baisés volés”, he made a name for himself in the cinema. It is then in avant-garde films and Hollywood productions that we find him. The actor meets big names in theater and cinema including Orson Wells, Jean-Pierre Mocky, Jean Eustache… and even plays contemporary texts (Duras, Beckett…). He then appeared in major films: James Bond, Moonraker in 1979; The name of the rose in 1986; Men and Gods in 2010. He won the César for the supporting role, the Crystal Globe for best actor and the Henri Langlois Prize for Best Actor.
In 1983, he directed the French film “La Voix humaine”.
The International Film Festival Entrevues in Belfort in 2008 dedicated him a cross tribute with Édith Scob.
Guest of honor at the Paris Cinema festival in 2011, he gave a cinema lesson with Jean Douchet.
THEATRAL CAREER
In 1972, with Michel Puig, he founded the Théâtre musical des Ulis, a musical theater company subsidized by the Ministry of Culture.
In February 1978, he was one of the founding members of the Committee of Intellectuals for Europe of Freedoms.
At the initiative of the Ministry of Culture and the monks of Cîteaux, in 1990 he staged “Bernard de Clairvaux” by Daniel Facérias and Gilles Tinayre on the historic site of Clairvaux with more than a hundred extras.
Since 2001, he has been honorary president of the Festival of Silence. He is also one of the honorary chairmen of the Marguerite Duras Prize jury.
He lends his voice to the reading of texts of literature and philosophy for audio books, as well as to Erik Satie within the Satie Houses of Honfleur. It is also the voice of Victor Hugo in 2014, in the tram of Besançon, birthplace of the writer.
Between 2014 and 2016, he sponsored a young theater group: the Troupe des Potimarrants (young actors who put their time and talent at the service of a passion).
Michael Lonsdale is also a recognized painter. The Daniel Besseiche gallery in Paris organized an exhibition in 2010 where his works were hung alongside the expressionist painter and art critic Jean Revol.
MICHAEL LONSDALE AND RELIGION
At his request, Michael Lonsdale became Catholic at the age of 22.
A committed Catholic, he participated in the movement for the Charismatic Renewal. He co-founded a prayer group called “Magnificat”, intended more especially for artists. Member of the section “arts and letters” of the Catholic Academy of France in 1998, he became the sponsor of a promotion of the Catholic Institute of Higher Studies in La Roche-sur-Yon
He participates in the Diakonia of Beauty, which covers the commitments of the various communities in the service of charity for the poorest and chairs the Sacred Festival of Beauty in Cannes.
He is a recurring reader for the Psaume dans la ville project.
The texts he staged between 2001 and 2010 (Marie Madeleine, Thérèse de Lisieux, François d’Assise, Soeur Emmanuelle …) are based on religion. This is also the case for many of his roles
In 60 years of career, Michael Lonsdale received 2 awards, had 7 nominations. He took part in 166 films and 3 series.
The actor died on September 21 in Paris at the age of 89.
TRIBUTES
After the death of the actor, many personalities paid tribute to him, starting with the President of the Republic and his wife.
The Mayor of Paris, Roselyne Bachelot and Jack Lang expressed their emotion as well as Cardinal Barbarin who gave him the sacrament of the sick.
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