Vernon Dobtcheff


Vernon Alexandre Dobtcheff is a French-British character actor, who has appeared in over 300 film, television, and stage productions in a career spanning six decades. Rupert Everett described him as a "patron saint of the acting profession."

Early life

Dobtcheff was born in Nîmes, France, to Russian parents, and was raised in Sussex, England. He attended Ascham St Vincent's School in Eastbourne, where he won the Acting Cup, and Eastbourne College.

Career

Dobtcheff made his professional stage debut with the Colchester Repertory Company in 1960. Later that year, he joined the repertory company of The Old Vic, first appearing in Franco Zeffirelli's production of Romeo and Juliet. In 1965, he starred in the debut production of John Osborne's A Patriot for Me. In 1967, he played the Presiding Judge in The Man in the Glass Booth at the Royal Court Theatre.
His debut film role was in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. He has since appeared in dozens of films, usually in character parts, including The Taming of the Shrew, Fiddler on the Roof, The Day of the Jackal, Murder on the Orient Express, The Spy Who Loved Me, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Before Sunset.
Among his many other television roles was as the Chief Scientist in the Doctor Who serial The War Games in 1969, in which he portrayed the first character ever to mention the Time Lords by name. In 1967 he was in The Avengers episode entitled "The Living Dead". He appeared in the Blake's 7 episode "Shadow" as the Chairman of the Terra Nostra in 1979. He has appeared in the Doctor Who audio drama The Children of Seth in which he plays the role of Shamur.
In his 2006 memoir, Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins, British actor Rupert Everett describes an encounter with Dobtcheff on the boat train to Paris, and reveals his extraordinary reputation as the "patron saint" of the acting profession, stating that Dobtcheff "was legendary not so much for his acting as for his magical ability to catch every first night in the country".

Selected film and TV roles