‘Mighty Ducks’ and ‘Bill & Ted’ Actor Joss Ackland Dead at 95

Joss Ackland, the popular actor from stage and screen who’s best known as the villain from Lethal Weapon 2, has died at 95. According to PEOPLE, the actor passed away on Sunday morning with family around. “He was lucid, erudite and mischievous to the end. I loved him deeply and, for me, he is the reason we have the word magnificent in the dictionary,” the actor’s representative, Paul Pearson told PEOPLE.

“With his distinctive voice and commanding presence, Ackland brought a unique intensity and gravitas to his role,” a statement from the actor’s family said. “He will be remembered as one of Britain’s most talented and beloved actors.”

The actor’s career spanned six decades and included hundreds of film and TV experiences. For most audiences, his role as Arjen Rudd in Lethal Weapon 2 is iconic and lifted by his repeated line, “diplomatic immunity,” which earns a stern response from Danny Glover in the movie.

He also appeared in The Hunt for Red October, The Mighty Ducks, and a villainous role in Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey as De Nomolos. For Ackland, he was well aware of the odd corners his career took him to, with a refreshing honesty about it in an interview with Radio Times in 2001.

“I do an awful lot of crap, but if it’s not immoral, I don’t mind. I’m a workaholic. Sometimes it’s a form of masochism,” he told the outlet. “I was in Mad Dogs and Englishmen, a Liz Hurley thing, which was God-awful and quite rightly torn to shreds. Then there was Passion of Mind last year with Demi Moore. Terrible script – awful, actually, but I needed the money.”

He also addressed his “type-casting” as a villain in his film career. “I’m so tired of not being able to make a movie without a car chase, or the villain dying twice. It’s all exactly the same,” he said. He was preceded in death by his wife, Rosemary, in 2002. They had been married for 51 years at the time.