Ronald William Lacey (28 September 1935 – 15 May 1991) was an English actor.[
]
Early life
Lacey was born and grew up in Harrow, Middlesex. He received his formal education at Harrow College. 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, 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 cowardly, 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".
Lacey performed on British television throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with roles spanning from a part in Kenneth Clark's Civilisation television series, as the gravedigger, in a re-enactment of the gravedigger scene from Hamlet, with Ian Richardson as Prince Hamlet and Patrick Stewart as Horatio, to a guest shot as the "Strange Young Man" in The Avengers episode "The Joker", and as Harris in the sitcom Porridge, with the latter finally landing him in the role for which his unusual physical characteristics could be repeatedly used to full advantage. Again, these were well shown in the episode "Soup of the Day" in the acclaimed Department S (1969) as a sniveling villain. [[1] The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog production website]
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, he used the mole as a beauty mark in his role as Princess Aida, a mysterious drag queen on the island of Malta. His other 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, including Rebecca Lacey.
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
| +
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes |
| 1962 | The Boys | Billy Herne | |
| 1963 | Doctor in Distress | Café Customer | Uncredited |
| 1964 | Of Human Bondage | "Matty" Mathews | |
| The Comedy Man | First Assistant Director | Uncredited |
| 1967 | The Fearless Vampire Killers | Village Idiot | |
| How I Won the War | Spool | |
| 1969 | Take a Girl Like You | Graham | |
| Otley | Curtis | |
| 1971 | Say Hello to Yesterday | Car Park Attendant | Uncredited |
| Macbeth | Macbeth’s Man, Killed Banquo |
| Crucible of Terror | Michael Clare | |
| 1972 | Disciple of Death | Parson | |
| 1973 | Gawain and the Green Knight | Oswald | |
| The Final Programme | "Shades" | |
| 1975 | Mister Quilp | Harris | |
| 1976 | The Likely Lads | Ernie | |
| 1977 | Charleston | Frankie | |
| 1979 | Zulu Dawn | Norris Newman | |
| 1980 | Nijinsky | Léon Bakst | |
| 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Major Arnold Ernst Toht | |
| 1982 | Firefox | Dr. Maxim Ilyich Semelovsky | |
| Tangiers | Wedderburn | |
| 1983 | Sahara | Lord Beg | |
| Invitation to the Wedding | Clara/Charles Eatwell | |
| Trenchcoat | Princess Aida | |
| Yellowbeard | Man With Parrot | |
| 1984 | Making the Grade | Nicky | |
| Sword of the Valiant | Oswald | |
| The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension | President Widmark | |
| The Bengal Lancers! | Monsieur Yves | |
| 1985 | Flesh + Blood | Cardinal | |
| Red Sonja | Ikol | |
| 1986 | Aces Go Places 4 | Leader of the villains | |
| Sky Bandits | Fritz | |
| Lone Runner | Misha | |
| Into the Darkness | Stewart Andrew Golding | |
| 1988 | Jailbird Rock | Warden Bauman | |
| Manifesto | The Conductor | |
| 1989 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | Heinrich Himmler | Uncredited |
| Valmont | José | |
| 1990 | Stalingrad | Winston Churchill | |
| 1992 | The Assassinator | Stewart | |
| Landslide | Fred Donner | |
| 1993 | Angely smerti | | |
TV
| +
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes |
| 1960 | Deadline Midnight | Jensen | 1 episode |
| 1961 | A Chance of Thunder | Johnny Travers | 3 episodes |
| 1962-68 | Z-Cars | Various | 4 episodes |
| 1965 | Comedy Playhouse | Justin Fribble | Episode: "Barnaby Spoot and the Exploding Whoopee Cushion" |
| Gideon's Way | Jerry Blake | Episode: "Gang War" |
| 1965-68 | Theatre 625 | Various | 4 episodes |
| 1966 | Sergeant Cork | Albert Watson | Episode: "The Case of Albert Watson V.C." |
| 1967 | Great Expectations | Orlick | 4 episodes |
| 1967-68 | The Avengers | Strange Young Man/Humbert Green | 2 episodes |
| 1968 | Civilisation | Grave Digger | Episode: "Protest and Communication" |
| 1969 | Department S | Jeremy Standish | Episode: "The Soup of the Day" |
| Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) | Beatnik | Episode: "My Late Lamented Friend and Partner" |
| 1970 | The Adventures of Don Quick | Sergeant Sam Czopanser | Episode: "The Benefits of Earth" |
| W. Somerset Maugham | Controleur | Episode: The Vessel of Wrath |
| 1971 | Catweazle | Ted "Tearful Ted" | Episode: "The Sign of the Crab" |
| 1971-72 | Jason King | Ryland | 4 episodes |
| 1972 | The Protectors | Cribbe | Episode: "King Con" |
| 1973 | Colditz | Major Zibnek | Episode: "Murder?" |
| Last of the Summer Wine | Walter | Episode: "The New Mobile Trio" |
| Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? | Ernie | Episode: "Moving On" |
| 1975 | The Fight Against Slavery | Charles James Fox | TV film |
| The Sweeney | Barry Monk | Episode: "Thou Shalt Not Kill!" |
| 1976 | Thriller | Bartlett | Episode: "The Next Victim" |
| Our Mutual Friend | Mr. Venus | 5 episodes |
| The New Avengers | Hong Kong Harry | Episode: "The Midas Touch" |
| Play for Today | Lang | Episode: "A Story to Frighten the Children" |
| The Duchess of Duke Street | Mr. Shephard | Episode: "The Outsiders" |
| 1977 | Porridge | Harris | 3 episodes, including "A Storm in a Teacup" and "Rough Justice" |
| 1978 | All Creatures Great and Small | Stewie Brannon | Episode: "The Last Furlong" |
| Dylan | Dylan Thomas | TV film |
| The Mayor of Casterbridge | Jopp | 4 episodes |
| 1979 | Blake's 7 | Tynus | Episode: "Killer" |
| Tropic | Geoffrey Turvey | Miniseries |
| 1981 | Tiny Revolutions | Interrogator | TV film |
| 1982 | P.O.S.H. | Mr. Vicarage |
| 1983 | Scarecrow and Mrs. King | Bobby Bouchard | Episode: "There Goes the Neighbourhood" |
| Hart to Hart | Inspector Michelot | Episode: "Hostage Harts" |
| The Hound of the Baskervilles | Inspector Lestrade | TV film |
| 1984 | Magnum, P.I. | Archer Hayes | Episode: "The Case of the Red-Faced Thespian" |
| 1985 | Connie | Crawder | 4 episodes |
| Minder | Harry Ridler | Episode: Minder on the Orient Express |
| 1986 | Blackadder II | The Bishop of Bath and Wells | Episode: "Money" |
| 1987 | Sherlock Holmes | Thaddeus Sholto/Bartholomew Sholto | Episode: The Sign of Four |
| 1988 | | Winston Churchill | TV film |
| 1989 | The Nightmare Years | Emil Luger | 4 episodes |
| 1990 | Face to Face | Dr. Brinkman | TV film |
| Haggard | The Seaman | Episode: "The Bellman" |
| 1991 | The Strauss Dynasty | Bauer | Miniseries |
External links
