Vernon Dobtcheff
Born: 1934-08-14 in Nimes, France
Known For: Acting
Biography
Vernon Alexandre Dobtcheff (born 14 August 1934) is a French-British character actor, who has appeared in over 300 film, television, and stage productions in a career spanning six decades. Dobtcheff was born in Nîmes, France, to a British mother (Vernon) and a father of Bulgarian descent (Dobtcheff). He attended Ascham Preparatory School in Eastbourne, Sussex, England, in the 1940s, where he won the Acting Cup. One of his many television roles was as the Chief Scientist in the Doctor Who story The War Games in 1969. 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". Widely travelled and prone to pop up in the most unlikely of locales, if unable to attend an opening night, Dobtcheff will still endeavour to send the cast a card wishing the production good luck. Description above from the Wikipedia article Vernon Dobtcheff, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
2024
- Doctor Who: The War Games in Colour as The Scientist (archive footage)
- Alec Guinness: A Class Act as self
2023
- The Gold as Matteo Constantino
2022
2021
- Burning Casablanca as Corny
2020
- The Haunting of Margam Castle as Enos
2019
- The Witcher as Older Elf
2018
- The Romanoffs as M. Audran
- The Violet Hour as M. Audran
- L'hypothèse de la reine rouge as Sherlock Holmes
2017
- Emerald City as High Born Man
- The Man with the Iron Heart as Emile Hacha
2016
- The Durrells as Mr. Kralefsky
2015
- Killing Jesus as Isaiah
2014
- The Invisible Boy as Artiglio
- Horsehead as George
- Seven Lucky Gods as Lawrence
2013
- The Great Beauty as Arturo
2012
- Zarafa as Le vieux sage (voice)
- Another Woman's Life as Dimitri Speranski
2011
- The Borgias as Cardinal Versucci
- The Passage as Vieil homme
2010
- Undisputed III: Redemption as Rezo
- Godforsaken as The Surgeon
2009
- The Little Murders of Agatha Christie as Anatole Deschanel
- Changing Climates, Changing Times as Lucas
2008
- Apparitions
- Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered - Volume 1 as Self
- The Joy of Singing as Le lecteur du bar
2007
- La Légende des 3 clefs as The anthropologist Gilles Clément
2006
- Priceless as Jacques
- Surviving Disaster
- For the Time Being as Anthony
- Courts mais Gay : Tome 12 as Anthony
2005
- An American Haunting as Elder #1
- Empire of the Wolves as Kudseyi
2004
- Before Sunset as Bookstore Manager
- Evilenko as Bagdasarov
- Pontormo - Un amore eretico as Riccio
2003
- Brocéliande as Brennos
- Thank You, Doctor Rey as François
2002
- The Red Siren as Vitali
- The Falklands Play as Nicanor Costa Méndez (Argentine Minister of External Relations)
2001
- Largo Winch as Maurice de Beliveau
- The Order as Oscar
- The Body as Monsignor
- David Copperfield as Quinion
- Revelation as Curé at Rennes-le-Chateau
- Festival in Cannes as Millie's Escort
2000
- David Copperfield as Quinion
- Le Prof as Patte Folle
- The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization as Cleisthenes
- The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization as Cleisthenes
- Falling Through as Father
1999
- Relic Hunter as Anthony Cureton
- Dreaming of Joseph Lees as Italian Doctor
- The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka as Art Gallery Lecturer
1998
- Merlin as 1st Physician
- Highlander: The Raven as Count Van Der Meer
- Hilary and Jackie as Professor Bentley
- Jinnah as Lord Willingdon
- Spanish Fly as Carl's Friend
- Vigo as Papa Lozinska
- Déjà Vu as Konstantine
- St. Ives as Bonnefoy
- 30 Years to Life as Sandler
- The Wonderland Experience as Vincent
1997
- Anna Karenina as Pestov
- The Hunchback as Father Michel
1996
- Jude as Curator
- The Ogre as Lawyer
- Catherine the Great as Naryshkin
- Surviving Picasso as Diaghilev
- The Ice Princess as Chancellor
1995
- Father Ted as Old Nazi
- Sharpe's Sword as Don Felipe
- Jefferson in Paris as King's Translator
- The House that Mary Bought
- Le fils de Paul as Duval
1994
- Mademoiselle O as Rouka
1993
- M. Butterfly as Agent Etancelin
- The Hour of the Pig as Apothecary
- Frankenstein as Chancellor
- Temptation of Sainthood as Freud
- Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher as Un Héraut / Un prêtre / Un clerc
1992
- Highlander: The Series as Carlo Luchesi
- As Time Goes By as Dr. Stoker
- Venice/Venice as Alexander
- The First Circle as Riyumin
- Sweetheart as Thurson
- Obiettivo indiscreto as Primo editore
1991
- The Strauss Dynasty as Hirsch
- Let Him Have It as Clerk of Court
1990
- Hamlet as Reynaldo
- The Krays as Teacher
- Meridian as Priest
- The Garden as Old Man at Sauna
- Vincent and Me as Dr Winkler
- The Plot to Kill Hitler as Fellgiebel
- Flight from Paradise as Merrill
1989
- Agatha Christie's Poirot as Simeon Lee
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as Butler
- Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story as Jules Glaenzer
- Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story as Doctor Webber
- Splendor
- Natalia as Alfred Grabner
- The Sweet House of Horrors as The Exorcist
- Berlin-Jerusalem as Editor
- The Hostage of Europe as Hudson Lowe
1988
- War and Remembrance as Henri Bulle
- Pascali's Island as Pariente
- Maigret as Gannett
- Catacombs as Brother Timothy
- Testimony as Gargolovsky
- Le due croci as Bischof de Jong
1987
- Crossbow
- Fortunes of War as Prince Hadjimoscos
1986
- The Name of the Rose as Hugh of Newcastle
- The Return of Sherlock Holmes as Mendelstam
- Caravaggio as Art Lover
1985
- A.D. as Flavius Sabinus
- Mussolini: The Untold Story as Sebastiani
- Tender Is the Night as Luis Campion
- Mata Hari as Prosecutor
- Morenga as Lohmann
1984
- Sherlock Holmes as Mendelstam
- Gwendoline as Shirko
- L'Homme de Suez as Konya, Turkish Colonel, spy in the service of the English
- Night Patrol as James
- Mon Ami Washington
- Much Ado About Nothing as Don John
- The Devil's Lieutenant as Dr. Goldschmiedt
1983
- Dramarama as Mr. Rolyat
- The Scarlet and the Black as Count Langenthal
- An Englishman Abroad as Guildenstern
1982
- Marco Polo as Pietro De Abano
- Enigma as Minister
- That Night of Varennes as Judge at the confiscation
- Nutcracker as Markovitch
1981
- Masada as Chief Priest
- Private Schulz as Sturmer
- Peter and Paul as High Priest of Herod
- Goldene Zeiten - Bittere Zeiten as M. Bernard
- Condorman as Russian Agent
- L'Amour nu as John, le patron de Claire
- Le Beau Monde as Pablo
- Troilus & Cressida as Agamemnon
- San-Antonio ne pense qu'à ça as Un tueur russe
- Sredni Vashtar as Dr. Russell
1980
- Nijinsky as Sergei Grigoriev
1978
- Blake's 7 as The Chairman
- Holocaust as Karp
- Mazarin as Pimentel
- Little Girl in Blue Velvet as Lamberti
- Romeo and Juliet as Apothecary
- Question of Love as Peter
- The Roads of Exile as Le peintre Ramsay
- Last In, First Out as Le réceptionniste
1977
- The Spy Who Loved Me as Max Kalba
- 1990
- March or Die as Mean Corporal
- Joseph Andrews as Fop Two
- The Achurch Letters as Eugene
1976
- Police Commissioner Moulin as Astman
- Dickens of London as Legal Gentleman
- Killers as Clerk of the Assizes
- French Without Tears as Monsieur Maingot
1975
- Rumpole of the Bailey as Edward Gandolphini
- The Sweeney as Harry Kretchmar
- Michael Strogoff as Blount
- Operation: Daybreak as Pyotr
- Playing with Fire as A messenger
- Des Christoffel von Grimmelshausen abenteuerlicher Simplizissimus as Dr. Canard
- Lovers Like Us as Coleman
- India Song as Georges Crawn
- The Secret Agent as Karl Yundt
- The Messiah as Samuel
- Cat and Mouse as Germain's accomplice
- Van der Valk and the Scapegoat as Reinders
- Rumpole of the Bailey as Magnus Piecan
1974
- Playhouse as Eugene
- Churchill's People as De Reynes
- Fall of Eagles as Count Stookau
- Murder on the Orient Express as Concierge
- Father Brown as Simon Vesty
- À vous de jouer Milord as N° 2
- Scent of a Woman as Don Carlo (uncredited)
- Cartesius as Astronomo Ciprus
- The Marseille Contract as Lazar
- Soft Beds, Hard Battles as Padre
1973
- The Day of the Jackal as Interrogator
- Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
- Nobody Is Norman Wisdom as Proshnik
- Impossible Object as Private Investigator
- An Echo of Theresa as Bannerheim
1972
- Crown Court as John Maitland-Wilson
- The Protectors as Joe Flynn
- Van der Valk as Sebastian Jonge
- New Scotland Yard as Jacob Harmann
- The Edwardians as Benjamin Disraeli
- The Canterbury Tales as The Franklin
- Up the Front as Muller
- Far from Dallas
1971
- The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes as Molbech
- Fiddler on the Roof as Russian Official
- Mary, Queen of Scots as Duc De Guise
- Nicholas and Alexandra as Dr. Lazovert
- The Horsemen as Zam Hajji
- The Married Couple of the Year Two as le pasteur
- The Beast in the Cellar as Newsmith
1970
- Play for Today
- Ace of Wands as Sandor Zandar
- Codename as Herman Voss
- Darling Lili as Otto Kraus
- Them as Brisbane
1969
- The Assassination Bureau as Baron Muntzof
- Anne of the Thousand Days as Mendoza
- Baby Love as Man in Cinema
- Beach Head as N.G. Waldron
- Doctor Who: The War Games as Chief Scientist
1968
- The Name of the Game as Dedushko
- The Champions as Manager
- A Dandy in Aspic
1967
- The Taming of the Shrew as Pedant
- The Further Adventures of the Musketeers as Msgr. de Gondy
1966
- Mystery and Imagination as Dr Lutz
- The Three Musketeers as Commissary
- Breaking Point
1965
- BBC Play of the Month as Monsieur Maingot
- Thirty-Minute Theatre as Carpenter
- Out of the Unknown as N.G. Waldron
- The World of Wooster as Music Store Assistant
- The Mask of Janus as Colonel Valenkov
- Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes as Member of the French Team
- Darling as Art Critic at Ralph Riggs Exposure (uncredited)
- The World of George Orwell: 1984 as Goldstein
- The Debussy Film as The Actor
1964
- Theatre 625 as Priest
- Martin Chuzzlewit
- The Life of Galileo as Philosopher
1963
- Doctor Who as Scientist
- Espionage as Captain of Police
- Festival as Philosopher
1962
- The Saint as Vogel
- The Scales of Justice as Mr. Strang
1961
- The Avengers as Spencer
1955
- Dixon of Dock Green as Counsel for Defence