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. 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.Profile, cineman.ch. Accessed 8 December 2022. 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 (1965). He has since appeared in dozens of films, usually in character parts, including The Taming of the Shrew (1967), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), The Day of the Jackal (1973), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and Before Sunset (2004).

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

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) as French Team Member (uncredited) Darling (1965) as Art Critic (uncredited) Return from the Ashes (1965) as Man breaking up nightclub fight (uncredited) The Idol (1966) as Man at Party The Taming of the Shrew (1967) as Pedant A Dandy in Aspic (1968) as Stein The Tyrant King (1968) as M.Le Coq Baby Love (1969) as Man in Cinema The Assassination Bureau (1969) as Baron Muntzof Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) as Mendoza Doctor Who (1969) as The Scientist (The War Games) Darling Lili (1970) as Otto Kraus The Beast in the Cellar (1970) as Sir Bernard Newsmith Les mariés de l'an II (1971) as Le pasteur The Horsemen (1971) as Zam Hajji Fiddler on the Roof (1971) as Russian Official Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) as Dr. Lazovert Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) as Duc François de Guise The Canterbury Tales (1972) as The Manager Up the Front (1972) as Muller The Day of the Jackal (1973) as The Interrogator Story of a Love Story (1973) Revolt of the City (1973) Soft Beds, Hard Battles (1974) as Padre Fall of Eagles (1974) as Count Stookau The Marseille Contract (1974) as Lazar Murder on the Orient Express (1974) as Concierge Scent of a Woman (1974) as Don Carlo (uncredited) Galileo (1975) as First Secretary Playing with Fire (1975) as Un messager India Song (1975) as George Crown Le Chat et la souris (1975) as le complice de Germain The Secret Agent (1975) as Karl Yundt Il Messia (1975) as Samuele Operation Daybreak (1975) as Pyotr Le Sauvage (1975) as Coleman Michel Strogoff (1975) (TV miniseries) as Harry Blount Dickens of London (1976) as Legal gentleman Joseph Andrews (1977) as Fop Two The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) as Max Kalba March or Die (1977) as Mean corporal 1990 (1977) as Professor Cheever La petite fille en velours bleu (1978) as Lamberti CIA contro KGB (1978) as Le réceptionniste Ike (1979) as Gen. Charles de Gaulle Nijinsky (1980) as Sergei Grigoriev Sredni Vashtar (1981) as the Doctor Masada (1981) as Roman Chief Priest Condorman (1981) as Russian Agent La nuit de Varennes (1982) as Le juge saisie Enigma (1982) Nutcracker (1982) as Markovitch Marco Polo (1982) as Pietro D'Abano An Englishman Abroad (1983) as Guildenstern Wagner (1983) as Giacomo Meyerbeer (1984) as James – le majordome The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak (1984) A.D. (1985) as Titus Flavius Sabinus Morenga (1985) as Lohmann Mata Hari (1985) as Prosecutor "The Six Napoleons" from The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1986) as Herr Mendelstam Caravaggio (1986) as Art Lover The Name of the Rose (1986) as Hugh of Newcastle Maschenka (1987) as Yasha Natalia (1988) as Alfred Grabner Catacombs (1988) as Brother Timothy Pascali's Island (1988) as Pariente Madame Sousatzka (1988) as Music Critic Testimony (1988) as Gargolovsky Splendor (1989) as Don Arno Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) as Butler The Hostage of Europe (1989) as Hudson Lowe The Plot to Kill Hitler (1990) as Erich Fellgiebel The Krays (1990) as Teacher The Garden (1990) A Season of Giants (1990) as Jacopo Galli Vincent and Me (1990) as Dr. Winkler Hamlet (1990) as Reynaldo Let Him Have It (1991) as Clerk of Court Prisoner of Honor (1991) as Rennes Prosecutor Les Enfants du naufrageur (1992) Toutes peines confondues (1992) as Thurston Venice/Venice (1992) as Alexander M. Butterfly (1993) as Agent Etancelin The Hour of the Pig (1993) as Apothecary Agatha Christie's Poirot ("Hercule Poirot's Christmas"; 1994) as Simeon Lee Jefferson in Paris (1995) as King's Translator England, My England (1995) as Spratt Surviving Picasso (1996) as Diaghilev Jude (1996) as Curator The Ogre (1996) as Lawyer Anna Karenina (1997) as Pestov The Odyssey (1997 miniseries) as Aegyptus As Time Goes By (1997) as Dr Stoker Déjà vu (1997) as Konstantine Father Ted ("Are You Right There Father Ted?"; 1998) as Old Nazi Merlin (1998) as 1st Physician Jinnah (1998) as Lord Willingdon Hilary and Jackie (1998) as Professor Bentley Spanish Fly (1998) as Carl's Friend St. Ives (1998) as Bonnefoy Dreaming of Joseph Lees (1999) as Italian Doctor The Body (2001) as Monsignor Revelation (2001) as Curé at Rennes-le-Chateau Festival in Cannes (2001) as Millie's Escort The Order (2001) as Oscar Cafmeyer, Rudy's father The Red Siren (2002) as Vitali Merci Docteur Rey (2002) as François White Teeth (2002) as 'The Devil of Dachau' The Falklands Play (2002) as Nicanor Costa Méndez Brocéliande (2003) as Professeur Brennos Before Sunset (2004) as Bookstore Manager Evilenko (2004) as Bagdasarov Iznogoud (2005) as Kitussé Empire of the Wolves (2005) as Kudseyi An American Haunting (2005) as Elder #1 Priceless (2006) as Jacques Rome – season 2 (2007) as The Rabbi Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008) as Un druide (uncredited) Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) as Rezo Zarafa (2012) as Le vieux sage (voice) The Great Beauty (2013) as Arturo The Invisible Boy (2014) as Artiglio The Man with the Iron Heart (2017) as Emile Hacha The 15:17 to Paris (2018) as Older Man L'hypothèse de la reine rouge (2018) as Sherlock Holmes The Haunting of Margam Castle (2020) as Enos

References

External links

Vernon Dobtcheff at Theatricalia Le coin du cinéphage