The British actor has starred in over two hundred films and TV series
Joss Ackland has died. The British actor, who starred in over two hundred films and TV series including ‘Lethal Weapon 2’, ‘The Hunt for Red October’ and ‘The Hunt for Red October’, was 95 years old. The announcement of his death was made by his family in a statement to the BBC. After the death of his wife, the actress Rosemary Kirkcaldy in 2002, to whom he had been married for 51 years and with whom he had seven children, Ackland retired to live in a village in Devon.
“With his unmistakable voice and commanding presence, Ackland brought a unique intensity and gravitas to his role – wrote the children of the actor who died “peacefully” in his home “surrounded by his family” – He will remembered as one of Britain’s most talented and loved actors.” In 2000 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his 50 years of activity in the world of cinema and television.
Born Edmond Jocelyn Ackland on 29 February 1928 in London, after studying acting in 1949 he began his career as a stage actor (he also often appeared in musicals), and since the 1960s he has been a prolific performer in films and television series. It was directed by Peter Greenaway, who in 1985 chose him to play an eccentric, color-blind corpse collector in the film “The Zoo of Venus”, by Michael Cimino in the film “The Sicilian” (1987), by Agnieszka Holland in the film “A priest to kill” (1988). He starred in “The House That Dripped Blood” (1970) and “Operation on a Grand Scale” (1973), both by Peter Duffell, while Michael Raford chose him for “White Crime” (1987) and “A Perfect Score” (2007 ).
Joss Ackland worked in Italy with Ennio De Concini (“The Last 10 Days of Hitler”, 1973), Francesco Rosi (“Forgetting Palermo”, 1990), Carlo Vanzina (“Three Columns in Chronicle”, 1990) and Francesco Nuti ( “OcchioPinocchio”, 1994), also taking part in the television drama “Pinocchio” (2009), playing Master Cherry, alongside Bob Hoskins and a large Italian cast.
Joss Ackland took part in highly successful films such as “Lethal Weapon 2” (1989) with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, where he played the main antagonist, Aryan Rudd; “Miracle on 34th Street” (1994), in which he plays Victor Landberg; “The Hunt for Red October” (1990), where he plays Ambassador Andrei Lisenko.
Joss Ackland’s many films include Lewis Gilbert’s “And Dawn Ran Red” (1975); “Someone is Killing the Greatest Chefs in Europe” (1978) by Ted Kotcheff (1978); “Saint Jack (1979) by Peter Bogdanovich (1979); “Diamond Cut” (1980) by Don Siegel; “Lady Jane” (1986) by Trevor Nunn; “Beware the Thief!” (1991) by Michael Lindsay-Hogg ; “A Mythical Journey” (1991) by Peter Hewitt; “The Stuff of Champions” (1992) Stephen Herek; “Encircled” (1993) by Robert Harmon; “The Night of Truth” (1994) by Yves Simoneau; “A Boy in the Court of King Arthur” (1995) by Michael Gottlieb; “Ducks” (1996) by Robert Lieberman; “Surviving Picasso” (1996) by James Ivory; “Firelight” (1997) William Nicholson; ” No Good Deed” (2002) by Bob Rafelson; “Madness” (2005) by David Mackenzie.
His television appearances include appearances in episodes of “Beware of Those Two”, “The Invincibles”, “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”, “Miss Marple” and “Inspector Barnaby (Midsomer Murders) – TV series, episode 9×03 (2006).
His marriage to Rosemary Kirkcaldy produced seven children, one of whom, Paul, died of a heroin overdose in 1982 when he was 29. The actor leaves behind six children (Melanie, Antonia, Penelope, Samantha, Kirsty and Toby), thirty-two grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Source-www.adnkronos.com