Actors - Ronald Lacey

Home > Listing Index > Actors > Ronald Lacey

	Actors - Ronald Lacey

Ronald Lacey (June 18, 1935 - May 15, 1991) was born in the suburbs of London.

He began his career in 1961 after a brief stint in the Royal service. He attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. His first notable performance was delivered at The Royal Court in 1962's Chips with Everthing. Lacey had an unusual pug look with beady eyes and cherub's cheeks, which landed him repeatedly in bizarre roles on both stage and screen.

However, it was his unforgettable demonic smile and peculiar Peter Lorre mannerisms that would bring Lacey a short period of fame in Hollywood. After performing on British television throughout the 1960's and 1970's, Lacey finally landed the role for which these characteristics could be used to full advantage. In 1981, he was cast as the villainous Nazi henchman in Steven Spielberg's widescreen blockbuster Raiders of the Lost Ark. He followed this with a series of various villain roles for the next five to six years, 1982's Firefox with Clint Eastwood, 1983's Sahara with Brooke Shields, and 1985's Red Sonja with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Lacey turned in two hilarious cinematic performances in full drag Disney's Trenchcoat with Margot Kidder from 1982 and Invitation to the wedding from 1985 - in which he played a husband / wife couple! Sadly, his career began to wane in the late eighties and Lacey died in London of liver failure on May 15, 1991. A tremendous talent with great depth and many facets, Ronald Lacey will be remembered best for his small but significant role as the dapper yet psychotic Nazi.

Trivia

Lacey was twice married. Originally wed to actress Mela White, he became the father of two children (Rebecca and Jonathan) in the 1960s. After a turbulent divorce, he remarried in 1972. Joanna Baker, his second wife, gave birth to his third child, Matthew.

Several obituaries cite his birth date as June 18, 1935 and others list it as September 28, 1935.

Ian Bartholomew sang 'Sometimes When We Touch' (The Honesty Song) at Lacey's memorial service which took place at St. James in Covent Garden almost three months after his death in 1991

His daughter, Rebecca, became a television success on the BBC's long-running 'Casualty' series (a dramatic soap opera somewhat comparable to ER)

Son Matthew is the godson of Hammer film's vampira Barbara Shelley

Disappointed with his acting career by the late 70s, he began to consider starting a talent agency. Spielberg then cast him as the sadistic Nazi villain, Toht, in Raiders of the lost Ark and after basking in the afterglow of the film's blockbuster success, the classically-trained character actor quickly changed his mind.

Father of actress Rebecca Lacey
and actor Jonathan Lacey.

Being of Welsh decent, he owned a family cottage in Wales which was passed on to his three children after his death. The family would spend their holidays together at the cottage.

Lacey was known for his trademark smile, which oft-times turned into a gleaming malicious leer as he played a number of wicked roles. He also had a rather large mole on his left cheek, which he chose not to have removed. The mole gave his sinister characterizations extra dimension as it was quite large. In 1982's Trenchcoat (opposite Margot Kidder) 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.

He gained and lost weight over the last ten years of his life as he was ill with cancer off and on. He occasionally looked bloated and swollen as a result of medical treatment. He finally succumbed to the cancer when it overtook his liver in May of 1991 and he died under the care of his daughter, Rebecca.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Ronald Lacey ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Ronald Lacey; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay