Lonsdale was born in Paris, the son of British Army officer Edward Lonsdale-Crouch and his half-French, half-Irish wife Simone Béraud. He was brought up initially on the island of Guernsey, then in London from 1935, and later, during the Second World War, in Casablanca, Morocco.
He returned to Paris to study painting in 1947, but was drawn into the world of acting instead, first appearing on stage at the age of 24. Lonsdale was bilingual, and appeared in both English-language and French-language productions. He appeared in a starring role with Roger Moore in the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker. and with Sean Connery, in the 1984 film The Name of the Rose. He would later appear in Munich, a film that also starred another Bond, Daniel Craig.
In February 2011, he won a César Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Of Gods and Men.

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