By Veteran British stage and screen actor Joss Ackland, arguably best known for his villainous roles in numerous Hollywood blockbusters from “Lethal Weapon 2” to “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey,” has died. He was 95.
Ackland’s rep Paul Pearson said in a statement: “Joss was a long term client and great friend who remained lucid, erudite and mischievous to the very end, he died peacefully with his family this morning.”
Ackland boasts over 130 film and television credits to his name, making his debut at age 21 in 1949’s “Landfall” and acting all the way up until 2014’s “Katherine of Alexandria” when he was 86. In his time he was awarded an Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to the arts.
A regular on stage, he joined the Old Vic alongside other alum like Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and Tom Courtenay. He worked steadily both in television and film over the years.
Notable roles include the Russian ambassador in John McTiernan’s “The Hunt for Red October,” Emilio Estevez’s mentor Hans in “The Mighty Ducks” films, espionage operative Jerry Westerby in the 1979 “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” mini-series, Don Masino Croce in Michael Cimino’s Mario Puzo adaptation “The Sicilian,” and author C. S. Lewis in the original TV version of “Shadowlands”.
He remains widely known for his role as South African consul-general Arjen Rudd in “Lethal Weapon 2” who has one of the most memorable deaths in cinema of the period. A few years later he was the villain Chuck De Nomolos in “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey” – a role he famously said he later regretted, along with various other movie roles he took around the time such as his part alongside Demi Moore in “Passion of Mind”.
He was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying in 1988’s “White Mischief”. Other notable roles include the voice of the Black Rabbit in “Watership Down,” Aristotle Onassis in the “A Woman Named Jackie” mini-series, the Van Damme film “Nowhere to Run,” King Arthur in “A Kid in King Arthur’s Court,” Marshal Zelentsov in “K-19: The Widowmaker,” and key guest roles in “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” and the Jeremy Brett-led “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”.
Ackland was married to his wife Rosemary for 51 years before she passed away in 2002. He is survived by his seven children, 34 grandchildren and 30 great grandchildren.
Source: The Guardian
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