How good was Joss Ackland at being bad? Most of us first noticed this British character actor in a couple of late ’80s films in which he stepped into the foreground — “White Mischief” and “Lethal Weapon 2.”

As one was set in Africa and “Lethal Weapon 2” had him slinging a spot-on Afrikaner accent, a lot of people just assumed a South African actor had come up out of nowhere to instantly make a menacing impression.

No, the Londoner had been working in bit roles on the screen since the late ’40s, did a lot of British TV (shows like “The Persuaders” were also exported to the US). But it wasn’t until he turned grey and started landing roles with gravitas and menace that his career blew up.

Ackland had a great run — period pieces (“Lady Jane”), Russians (“The Hunt for Red October, “K-19: The Widowmaker”), Shakespeare and the original “Tinker Tailor, Soldier Spy” for TV, Matisse in “Surviving Picasso.”

And he made it to the ripe old age of 95, living long enough to rise from decades of relative obscurity to an in demand Brit villain for other decades. He passed away in the UK over the weekend. ROP, and well done.