John Vernon


John Keith Vernon was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada. He was best known for playing Dean Wormer in Animal House, the Mayor in Dirty Harry, and Fletcher in The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Early and personal life

Born as Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz in Zehner, Saskatchewan, Vernon was one of two sons of Adolf Agopsowicz, a grocer, and his wife Eleonore Krückel. Both his parents' families emigrated to the Edenwold district in the late 19th century from the Austrian crownland and duchy of Bukovina. The Agopsowicz family was part of the Armenian community in Poland. Vernon was of Armenian, German, and Polish descent.
Raised Catholic, from 1935 to 1953, he attended St. Joseph's School and Campion College in Regina, Saskatchewan, where his acting career began under the direction of the Rev. Arthur Nelson and S.J. and Mary Ellen Burgess at the Regina Little Theatre. Vernon was educated at the Banff School of Fine Arts and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London before becoming a live stage actor for CBC Television's dramatic programs. In 1974, he completed a season at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, playing Malvolio.
Vernon is the father of actress Kate Vernon, musician Nan Vernon, and actor Chris Vernon.

Career

Early roles

Vernon made his screen debut in 1956 as the voice of Big Brother in Michael Anderson's film version of George Orwell's [1984 |1984] starring Edmond O'Brien. He returned to Canada afterwards, and gained experience by appearing on the TV series The Adventures of Tugboat Annie and The Last of the Mohicans. He also performed on stage with Crest Theatre in Toronto in the 1959-60 season, appearing in The Matchmaker, Under Milk Wood, Mrs. Gibbon's Boys, Macbeth, You [Can't Take It with You |You Can't Take It With You], The Schoolmistress and Heartbreak House.
He debuted on Broadway in 1964 as DeSoto opposite Christopher Plummer and David Carradine in The Royal Hunt of the Sun. During the Golden Age of CBC Drama in the 1960s, he co-starred in Edna O'Brien's A Cheap Bunch of Nice Flowers, opposite Colleen Dewhurst; and in Uncle Vanya, opposite William Hutt and Rita Gam.
Starting in 1966, Vernon played the crime-fighting medical examiner Wojeck in the CBC TV series of the same name. Wojeck was an instant critical success, and also quickly became the most popular Canadian-produced dramatic series aired at the time. However, due to budget constraints, it ran sporadically, and the CBC could not promise that Wojeck would continue for more than a few episodes at a time. As well, the pay rate for the cast was far less than an American series could offer. With TV work proving precarious, and the Canadian film industry essentially nonexistent at the time, by the end of 1967, Vernon decided to go to the United States to further his acting career.
In 1967, he appeared opposite Lee Marvin in Point Blank.
In 1969, he played Cuban revolutionary Rico Parra in Alfred Hitchcock's Cold War-era spy film Topaz. He appeared on The High Chaparral as the leader of a group of striking Irish miners in "No Irish Need Apply".
In 1970, he guest-starred in the Hawaii Five-O episode "Force Of Waves" as Cal Anderson, and he appeared in the two-part episode "The Banker" of The Silent Force in 1971. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he made four appearances over five years on the TV series Mission: Impossible as four different lead villains. In 1974, Vernon turned in a supporting performance in Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night.
In 1971, he played the by-the-book mayor of San Francisco, perpetually frustrated by Clint Eastwood, in the first Dirty Harry film. He later parodied this role in the film One More Train to Rob and the premiere episode of Sledge Hammer!.
In 1974, he co-starred in the film The Black Windmill with Michael Caine and Donald Pleasence. Also in 1974, he appeared in The Questor Tapes.
In 1976, he played Fletcher in Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales.
In 1977, he played the husband in the Italian film A Special Day, with Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.

Villain

In 1972, he appeared as a villain in Fear Is the Key and in 1973, Vernon appeared in Charley Varrick, as a sketchy banker with a bigtime mob connection, Maynard Boyle.
In 1975, Vernon portrayed Chicago gangster Ben Larkin in the John Wayne film Brannigan, which was set in London, England, starring alongside Wayne and Richard Attenborough.
Vernon played Dean Vernon Wormer of fictional Faber College in 1978's Animal House. He also played Mr. Prindle in 1980's Herbie Goes Bananas, Ted Striker's psychiatrist Dr. Stone in 1982's Airplane II: The Sequel, and Sherman Krader in 1987's Ernest Goes to Camp.
In 1979, Vernon played villainous American bigot Jonathon Pritts in New Mexico, who was trying to steal the land from Mexican landowners in the Louis L'Amour story of The Sacketts.
In 1980, Vernon made a guest appearance in the tv series The Littlest Hobo, playing the cruel hunter Sam Burrows.
He also appeared in several cult exploitation and action films in the 1980s, most notably Chained Heat and Savage Streets, both starring Linda Blair, and Jungle Warriors, opposite Sybil Danning. He underplayed his villain image in the 1988 Blaxploitation spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka: a character thinks Vernon should be "above exploitation films" and Vernon replies that many famous actors have done exploitation films, listing Jamie Lee Curtis, Angie Dickinson, and Shelley Winters as examples.
Vernon played Ted Jarrett in the season-two The A-Team episode "Labor Pains". Vernon also played Cameron Zachary in the season-two Knight Rider episode "A Good Knight's Work". He appeared in three episodes of The Fall Guy, as Carson Connally in the season-two episode "Just a Small Circle of Friends", as Ellis in the season-three episode "Boom", and as Mardovitch in the season-four episode "High Orbit". Vernon later played John Bradford Horn in the season-three Airwolf episode "Discovery".
In 1986, he played the principal in Fuzz Bucket. He played Sergeant Curt Mooney in Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and was a lead in the short-lived 1990s series Acapulco H.E.A.T. In 1995, he appeared on Walker, Texas Ranger in the episode "Final Justice", in which he played Clint Murdock, a criminal who murdered Cordell Walker's parents when the latter was a kid, and he also served as Walker's arch nemesis in the episode.
Vernon guest-starred as the grouchy principal Dinkler in "Brad to Worse", an episode of Duckman on USA Network.

Voice work

Vernon also did voice work, including voicing Iron Man and Namor in The Marvel Super Heroes, Rupert Thorne in Batman: The Animated Series, Thunderbolt Ross in The Incredible Hulk series, and Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm.

Death

Vernon died of complications following heart surgery on February 1, 2005, in Westwood, Los Angeles at the age of 72.

Selected filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1966The Marvel Super HeroesIron Man, Namor, Glenn Talbot
1986WildfireWildfire13 episodes
1992–1994Batman: The Animated SeriesRupert Thorne9 episodes
1992DinosaursMr. AshlandEpisode: "Power Erupts"
1993SWAT Kats: The Radical SquadronRex ShardEpisode: "Chaos in Crystal"
1994Fantastic FourDoctor DoomEpisodes: "The Mask of Doom"
1995Pinky and the BrainAdmiralEpisode: "Das Mouse"
1996Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the RealmShao Kahn3 episodes
1996Spider-Man: The Animated SeriesDoctor StrangeEpisode: "Doctor Strange"
1994DuckmanPrincipal DinklerEpisode: "From Brad to Worse"
1996–1997The Incredible HulkThunderbolt Ross14 episodes
1998Pinky, Elmyra & the BrainPrincipal CheeversEpisode: "Gee, Your Hair Spells Terrific"
2000Pigs Next DoorGrand PorcinusEpisode: "Hog Island"; uncredited
2003–2005The Grim Adventures of Billy & MandyDean Toadblatt3 episodes

YearTitleRoleNotes
1994The [Adventures of Batman & Robin |The Adventures of Batman & Robin]Rupert Thorne
1995ShannaraTroll Guard
2000Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2Tesla Trooper
2000Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of AmnGoldander Blackenrock, Baron Ployer
2000Star Trek: Klingon AcademyAcademy Communications Officer, Federation Commander
2002Earth & BeyondProconsul Dionysius Kerr
2004Fallout: Brotherhood of SteelRhombus, Glowing Ghoul
2005Area 51Additional voices