Richard Vernon


Richard Evelyn Vernon was a British actor. He appeared in many feature films and television programmes, often in aristocratic or supercilious roles. For example as Colonel Loring, a misplaced idealist responsible for the disappearance of a whole village in the Pied Piper of Hambledown episode in the classic spy-fi Department S.
Prematurely balding and greying, Vernon settled into playing archetypal middle-aged lords and military types while still in his 30s. He played Slartibartfast in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the lead role of Edwin Oldenshaw in The Man in Room 17, Sir James Greenley alias "C" in The Sandbaggers, and Sir Desmond Glazebrook in Yes Minister and its sequel series Yes, Prime Minister.

Early life

Vernon was born in Reading, Berkshire, in 1925 to British parents, who later lived in Kenya. Vernon and his parents moved back to Britain in 1937, and he was educated at Reading School and Leighton Park School. During the Second World War, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve and served during the final months of the war. After it ended, he was posted to Kowloon, where he directed and starred in a production of Heartbreak House. At the end of his service, his commanding officer reported "Vernon is an excellent dinghy helmsman and amateur actor: in his spare time he performs his duties satisfactorily."
He went on to train as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Career

In 1960, Vernon appeared in an adaptation of A.J. Cronin's novel, The Citadel. In 1961, he played the father in the BBC series, Stranger on the Shore. An early leading role was as wartime agent-turned-criminologist Edwin Oldenshaw in the TV series The Man in Room 17 and its sequel The Fellows. He also played a small role as Colonel Smithers, an executive of the Bank of England, in a scene opposite Sean Connery and Bernard Lee in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, discussing how Auric Goldfinger transports his gold overseas.
He played an unnamed 'city gent' reluctantly sharing a train compartment with the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night, planet designer Slartibartfast in the BBC radio and TV series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the occasional character Sir Desmond Glazebrook, a clueless senior banker, in the TV series Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, and Mr Becket in Sammy's Super T-Shirt. He also appeared in the 1965 Morecambe and Wise film The Intelligence Men as patron of the arts Sir Edward Seabrook, Lord Bartelsham in Ripping Yarns, and Squire Dale in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of The Small House at Allington. He played Admiral Croft in the 1971 BBC television adaptation of Persuasion. He played the urbane head of the Secret Intelligence Service Sir James Greenley in ITV political drama The Sandbaggers from 1978 to 1980. In 1986 he appeared in Paradise Postponed, and voiced the professor Gus in The Giddy Game Show, in addition to a cameo role in the video for Experiment IV by Kate Bush. He also appeared in the final episode of Thames Television's production of Rumpole of the Bailey as Rumpole's exculpatory dentist, Lionel Leering, and in the last series of Lovejoy playing Tinker's brother-in-law.
On radio, in 1978 he played Sir Gerald Tarrant in a BBC World Service adaptation of the Modesty Blaise book Last Day in Limbo and Professor Misty in the BBC Radio 3 sitcom Patterson in 1981. He also starred in the title role of Lord Emsworth in several BBC Radio 4 series of Blandings between 1985 and 1992.
In December 1990 he began teaching a course on stage acting in Harare, Zimbabwe. He moved back to England in January 1992.
His final film appearance was an appearance at the end of the film Loch Ness, which was released in 1996.

Personal life and death

In 1955 he married actress Benedicta Leigh née Hoskyns. They had a daughter Sarah, an actress and a son Thomas. They divorced in 1990.
Vernon died of complications from Parkinson's disease on 4 December 1997.

Filmography

Film

  • Stop Press Girl -
  • Indiscreet - Guide
  • The Heart of a Man - Manager
  • The Siege of Pinchgut - Under-Secretary
  • Sapphire - Detective
  • Clue of the Twisted Candle - Viney
  • Village of the Damned - Sir Edgar Hargraves
  • Foxhole in Cairo - General
  • Cash on Demand - Pearson
  • The Edgar Wallace Mysteries Film series - John Crewe
  • Reach for Glory - Dr. Aldrich
  • Jigsaw -
  • We Joined the Navy -
  • The Edgar Wallace Mysteries Film series - John Paxton
  • Just for Fun - Prime Minister
  • The Servant - Lord Mounset
  • Hot Enough for June - Roddinghead
  • A Hard Day's Night - Pompous man on train
  • Goldfinger - Colonel Smithers
  • The Counterfeit Constable - Lord Brisburn
  • The Tomb of Ligeia - Dr. Vivian
  • The Yellow Rolls-Royce - Racecourse official
  • The Intelligence Men - Sir Edward Seabrook
  • The Secret of My Success - Lord Hetherby
  • The Early Bird - Sir Roger Wedgewood
  • Goodbye, Mr. Chips - Chairman
  • Song of Norway - Councilman
  • She'll Follow You Anywhere - Andrew Coombes
  • One Brief Summer - Hayward
  • The Satanic Rites of Dracula - Mathews
  • Adventures of a Taxi Driver - Gentleman
  • The Pink Panther Strikes Again - Professor Hugo Fassbender
  • Sammy's Super T-Shirt - Mr. Becket
  • The Human Factor - Sir John Hargreaves
  • Oh! Heavenly Dog - Quimby Charles
  • The Box -
  • Evil Under the Sun - Flewitt
  • Witness for the Prosecution - Brogan-Moore, barrister
  • Gandhi - Sir Edward Albert Gait
  • Night Train to Murder - Uncle Felix
  • Lady Jane - The Marquess of Winchester
  • A Month in the Country - Colonel Hebron
  • Loch Ness - Aged professor

    Television

  • ITV Television Playhouse as Multiple roles
  • ITV Play of the Week as Multiple roles
  • Probation Officer as Doctor Lessing
  • No Hiding Place as John Eldin/Charles Lacey
  • Dixon of Dock Green as Fellowes/Pascoe
  • Emergency Ward 10 as Forrester
  • Francis Storm Investigates as Commodore Garwood
  • Deadline Midnight as Holroyd
  • Boyd Q.C. as Mr. Trottman
  • Theatre 70 as Mr. Pearson
  • The Odd Man as Charles Ormiston
  • The Citadel as Doctor Ivory
  • Jango as Parkinson
  • Stranger on the Shore as David Gough
  • Stranger in the City as David Gough
  • The Cheaters as Ken Northwood
  • Saki as The Major
  • Maigret as Philippe
  • The Last Man Out as The Colonel
  • The Avengers as Lord Matterley
  • Harpers West One as Arthur Purvis
  • Z-Cars as Det. Chief Insp. Humphries
  • It Happened Like This as Harker
  • 24-Hour Call as Wing Commander Battenby
  • Walter and Connie as Mr. Johns
  • The Saint as Sir John Ripwell
  • The Plane Makers as Keith Saville
  • Crane as Wolsey
  • The Hidden Truth as William Anstruthe
  • Here's Harry as Self
  • The Marriage Lines as Mr. Renfrew-Smith
  • The Man in Room 17 as Edwin Oldenshaw
  • The Fellows as Edwin Oldenshaw
  • ITV Playhouse as Multiple roles
  • Comedy Playhouse as Sir Reginald Polk-Mowbray
  • Mystery and Imagination as Professor Krempe
  • Harry Worth as Mr. Gilmore
  • The Man in Room 17 as Multiple roles
  • Thirty-Minute Theatre as Colonel O'Dwyer
  • Journey to the Unknown as Sir Gerald Walters
  • Department S as Colonel Loring
  • W. Somerset Maugham as Lord Kastellan
  • Fraud Squad as Sir Roy Prentiss
  • Biography as Tycho Brahe
  • UFO as Stone
  • Seasons of the Year as Lord Rudge
  • Paul Temple as Carlton
  • The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder as Major Olbude
  • Brett as Sutherland
  • Albert and Victoria as Mr. Ridley
  • The Persuaders! as Sir Maxwell Dean
  • The Guardians as Face
  • Hadleigh as Sir Geoffrey Osborne
  • Persuasion as Admiral Croft
  • The Adventurer as Sir Richard McKenzie
  • Softly, Softly: Task Force as Sir Ralph Townley
  • The Sextet as Multiple roles
  • Man at the Top as Lord Belmont
  • Between the Wars as Morton
  • Late Night Theatre as Morry Sheldon
  • Special Branch as Townsend
  • Upstairs, Downstairs as Major Cochrane-Danby
  • Harriet's Back in Town as Oliver Warburton
  • Dolly as Mr. Hilary Musgrave
  • Dial M for Murder as The Chief
  • Justice as Lord Tilling
  • Thriller as George Cornfield
  • Village Hall as Cedric Wellbeloved
  • Affairs of the Heart as Colonel Chart
  • Edward the Seventh as Lord Salisbury
  • Dawson's Weekly as Solicitor
  • The Duchess of Duke Street as Major Smith-Barton
  • Ripping Yarns as Lord Bartlesham
  • The Cedar Tree as Lord Evelyn Forbes
  • Do You Remember? as Lord Greenham
  • The Sandbaggers as Sir James Greenley / "C"
  • Yes Minister as Sir Desmond Glazebrook
  • Bognor as Lord Wharfedale
  • Roger Doesn't Live Here Anymore as Judge
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as Slartibartfast
  • Legacy of Murder as Roland Tolhurst
  • L for Lester as Mr. Davies
  • Something in Disguise as Herbert Browne-Lacey
  • Strangers as Sir Geoffrey
  • Nanny as Duke of Broughton
  • The Boy Who Won the Pools as Sir Malvern West
  • Pig in the Middle as Lord Gathorne
  • Leaving as Mr. Chessington
  • Roll Over Beethoven as Oliver Purcell
  • Summer Season as Thompson
  • Ladies in Charge as Lord Brampton
  • Lytton's Diary as Duncan Anderson
  • Paradise Postponed as Sir Nicholas Fanner
  • Chance in a Million as Uncle Evelyn
  • The Return of the Antelope as Mr. Garstanton
  • Last of the Summer Wine as The Vicar
  • Yes, Prime Minister as Sir Desmond Glazebrook
  • Hot Metal as Lord Gilbert
  • A Gentleman's Club as George
  • Casualty as Dr. Richard Payton
  • Helping Henry as Cosmic 1
  • The Storyteller as King
  • About Face as Bingham
  • KYTV as Chester Chuckles
  • The Camomile Lawn as General Peachum
  • Rumpole of the Bailey as Lionel Leering
  • Bonjour la Classe as Sir Lionel
  • You Rang, M'Lord? as The Earl of Swaffham
  • The Return of the Borrowers as Mr. Pott
  • Rides as Arthur Copthorne
  • Frank Stubbs Promotes as Lord Dunstable
  • Lovejoy as Roger Nettleton
  • Class Act as Sir Horace Mainwaring