Anecdotes

He had his lower intestines removed in his early twenties and as a result had to have a colostomy bag implemented. Over the years he was refused certain film roles in other countries at his personal doctor's fervent request. His lack of "guts", so to speak, prevented the classically trained character actor from travelling abroad for the sake of appearing in motion pictures.

Being of Welsh decent, he owned a family cottage in Wales which was passed on to his three children after his death. The family would spend their holidays together at the cottage.

He gained and lost weight over the last ten years of his life as he was ill with cancer off and on. He occasionally looked bloated and swollen as a result of medical treatment. He finally succumbed to the cancer when it overtook his liver in May of 1991 and he died under the care of his daughter, Rebecca.

Disappointed with his acting career by the late 70s, he began to consider starting a talent agency. Spielberg then cast him as the sadistic Nazi villain, Toht, in Les Aventuriers de l'arche perdue (1981) and after basking in the afterglow of the film's blockbuster success, the classically-trained character actor quickly changed his mind.

Lacey was twice married. Originally wed to actress Mela White, he became the father of two children (Rebecca and Jonathan) in the 1960s. After a turbulent divorce he remarried in 1973. Joanna Baker, his second wife, gave birth to his third child, Matthew.

Ian Bartholomew sang 'Sometimes When We Touch' (The Honesty Song) at Lacey's.memorial service which took place at St. James in Covent Garden almost three months after his death in 1991.

He was the father of actress Rebecca Lacey and actor Jonathan Lacey.

His wife Joanna Baker pre-deceased him.

His daughter, Rebecca, became a television success on the BBC's.long-running Casualty (1986) series (a dramatic soap opera somewhat comparable to ER).

Several obituaries cite his birthdate as June 18, 1935 and others list it as September 28, 1935.

Lacey was known for his trademark smile which oft-times turned into a gleaming malicious leer as he played a number of wicked roles. He also had a rather large mole on his left cheek which he chose not to have removed. The mole gave his sinister characterizations extra dimension as it was quite large. In 1982's Meurtres à Malte (1983) (opposite Margot Kidder) he used the mole as a beauty mark in his role as Princess Aida, a mysterious and sleazy drag queen on the island of Malta.

He was offered the role of Sir Percy Heseltine in Lifeforce - L'étoile du mal (1985), but had to reject the part because the cancer he was suffering from made him unable to accept the role because of the demanding make up involving body casts, so Aubrey Morris was cast instead. He was also considered for Dr. Bukovsky in the film.

His son Matthew is the godson of Hammer film's Barbara Shelley.

He was one of the few actors to have been cast in both Chapeau melon et bottes de cuir (1961) and Chapeau melon et bottes de cuir (1976).

He was known for his generosity and warmth to fans but equally known in the London Theatre scene for having a great fondness for drinking and smoking. Often the actor was noted amongst the gossip pages as having been seen indulging at various functions and developing a bit of a reputation of raising more than just a few eyebrows in his direction.

He was considered for several roles in Docteur Who (1963) but never appeared. He was offered the role of Commander Uvanov in The Robots of Death: Part One (1977), which was taken by Russell Hunter. He was asked over six times to appear in Docteur Who (1963) in the 1980s but was always busy elsewhere. He was one of the first choices, along with Ian Holm, to play Morgus in Peter Davison's final serial as the Doctor, The Caves of Androzani: Part One (1984), which instead went to John Normington, and he was considered suitable for Gavrok in Delta and the Bannermen: Part One (1987), which was taken by Don Henderson.

He was also a stage director and drama teacher.

It was said that he was going to be making a film called Gunbus in July 1985 and that it was scheduled to take 15 weeks,.

Lacey portrayed a memorable one-shot villain in "Blackadder II", the corrupt clergyman Bishop of Bath and Wells. The character is depicted as a loan shark, a self-described pervert, a sadist, a cannibal, and an implied serial killer with a particular passion for infanticide. But his gullible parishioners think that he is some kind of living saint whose only weakness is a fondness for alcohol. He appeared as the main villain in an episode about the church covering up its scandals.