Ronald Lacey
| Ronald Lacey | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Ronald William Lacey 28 September 1935 Harrow, Middlesex, UK |
| Died | 15 May 1991 (aged 55) London, UK |
| Cause of death | Cancer |
| Residence | London |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Harrow Weald Grammar School |
| Alma mater | London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1960–1991 |
| Spouse(s) | Mela White (1959–1971) Joanna Baker (1972–1989) |
| Children | 4, including Rebecca Lacey |
Ronald William Lacey (28 September 1935 – 15 May 1991) was an English actor. He made numerous television and film appearances over a 30-year period and is perhaps best remembered for his roles as Harris in Porridge, Gestapo agent Major Arnold Ernst Toht in Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Bishop of Bath and Wells in Blackadder II.
Lacey attended Harrow Weald Grammar School. After a brief stint of national service and at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he began his acting career in 1961 in a TV play, The Secret Agent. His first notable 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, and an absence of both eyebrows and eyelashes. He also had a distinctive voice and could scream at a very high pitch. This unique combination of features landed him repeatedly in bizarre roles on both stage and screen.
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 Hamlet and Patrick Stewart as Horatio, to a guest shot as the "Strange Young Man" on The Avengers episode "The Joker," to 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. 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 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 with Brooke Shields, and 1985's Red Sonja with Arnold Schwarzenegger, in addition to 1982's Firefox with Clint Eastwood, in which he played a scientist helping the West behind the Iron Curtain.
...
Wikipedia