Joss Eckland, the great villain of Lethal Weapon 2, has died at the age of 95.

Lethal Weapon fans will no doubt remember his performance in the second installment of the saga, where he faced off against Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as South African consul Arien Rudd, who used his diplomatic immunity to set up a drug bust. British actor Joss Ackland, also known for her BAFTA-nominated role in Road to Nairobi, died this week at the age of 95.

During his long film career, he also appeared in The Sicilian, The Conspiracy, The Chase for Red October, Little Champions and K-19.

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The son of Ruth and Sydney Norman Eckland, Joss developed a passion for theater at an early age and attended the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. In 1951, he married actress Rosemary Kirkcaldy, with whom he appeared in several plays, and briefly appeared in the films Landfall, Ultimatum and Ghost Ship. Then he flew to Malawi with his wife and worked on a tea plantation. The couple then settled in South Africa and finally returned to England in 1957.

In the 1960s, Joss Ackland pursued a theater career (among other things, played in plays at the prestigious Old Vic Theater in London) and television, participating in many series such as Destination, Downing Street, Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling, Sherlock Holmes. David Copperfield, Lord Raingo, The Musketeers After, Problem Solvers, Z Cars or The Canterbury Tales. On the film side, we see him stealthily in Captain Grant and Rasputin, the mad monk’s sons.

Since the 1970s, Jos Eckland has been more active in cinema. Thus, he plays secondary characters in various genres of films, ranging from horror (The Broken Mannequin and The House That Kills) to adventure (Mr. Forbush and the Penguins), including science fiction (Cage of Happiness), biographical (The Last Ten). Hitler Days), Comedy (Spies, Lotus Lens, Heroic Coward), War (Seven Men at Dawn), Fantasy (The Little Prince) and Cop (The Lion Shows His Claws).

In the 1980s, the Londoner rose to fame with roles on the big screen that took on greater significance. He plays often surprising characters in Lady Jane, Road to Nairobi, Queenie, The Force of a Destiny, The Sicilian, The Plot and especially Lethal Weapon 2, where he plays the nasty and ruthless Aryan Rude, giving Mel Gibson a hard time. time. The blockbuster grossed nearly $227 million and showcases the actor’s ease in playing antagonists.

In the 1990s and 2000s, the charismatic Joss Ackland did not slow down the pace of filming (he explained himself as hyperactive), on the contrary: in parallel with the numerous television films in which he participated, we see him forget about films. Palermo, Banco pour un crime or even in Chasing Red October (big box office success). In the latter, he plays the so-called Andrei Lysenko, the Soviet ambassador to the United States, alongside the great Sean Connery and the very fashionable Alec Baldwin.

A well-known face to the public, Jos Eckland went on to star in Les Imposteurs (1991), Les Petits Champions (1992), Cavale sans issue (1993), Giorgino (1994), Mad Dogs and the English (1995), The Kid and the King (id.) , Citizen Shelter (2005), Moscow Zero (2006), Heist of the Century (2007) and Curse of the Pyramid (2013). He also appears in the TV movie Henry VIII (2003).

Jos Eckland retired in 2014 after playing Rufus in Catherine of Alexandria, a historical drama centered on the life of Saint Catherine, in which he starred alongside Nicole Kennyhart, Julien Vialon, Steven Berkoff and Peter O’Toole.

(Re)discover the trailer for ‘The Pursuit of Red October’…