Ronald William Lacey (28 September 1935 – 15 May 1991) was an English actor.
He had an unusual pug face with beady eyes and cherub-like cheeks, which landed him repeatedly in bizarre/villainous roles on both stage and screen. However it was his unforgettable demonic smile and peculiar Peter Lorre-like mannerisms that would bring Lacey a short period of fame in Hollywood.
A prolific character actor on British television throughout The '60s and The '70s, Lacey eventually landed a role for which these characteristics could be used to full advantage, the Nazi Gestapo agent Arnold Toht, in the first Indiana Jones film, 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark. He then followed upon this with a series of various villainous roles for the next five to six years (although he would also play Sir Winston Churchill twice).
He passed away from liver failure on May 15, 1991 at age 55. Two of his children, Rebecca and Jonathan Lacey, are actors themselves.
His roles included:
- The Avengers (1967-1968) as Strange Young Man / Humbert
- The New Avengers (1976) as Hong Kong Harry
- Colditz (1973) as Major Zibnek
- Porridge (1977) as Harris
- Indiana Jones:
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) as Sturmbannführer Arnold Ernst Toht
- The Last Crusade (1989) as Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler
- Hart to Hart (1983)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (BBC, 1983) as Inspector Lestrade
- The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) as President Widmark
- Magnum, P.I. (1984) as Archer Hayes
- Blackadder II (1985) as the Bishop of Bath and Wells
- Red Sonja (1985) as Ikol
- Valmont (1989) as José
- Stalingrad (1989) as Winston Churchill
