Vernon Dobtcheff

Vernon Dobtcheff
Born	(1934-08-14) 14 August 1934 Nîmes, France
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1963–present

Vernon Dobtcheff (born 14 August 1934) is a Franco-British actor.

Dobtcheff was born in Nîmes, France, to a family of Russian descent. 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 series The War Games in 1969, in which he became the first actor ever to mention the Time Lords by name. He also appeared in the Blake's 7 episode "Shadow" as the Chairman of the Terra Nostra in 1979.

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.

Dobtcheff appeared in the Doctor Who audio drama The Children of Seth in which he plays the role of Shamur.

Filmography

• Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines (1965) - French Team Member
• Darling (1965) - Art Critic
• The Taming of the Shrew (1967) – Pedant
• A Dandy in Aspic (1968) – Stein
• Baby Love (1968) – Man in Cinema
• The Assassination Bureau (1969) – Baron Muntzof
• Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) – Mendoza
• Darling Lili (1970) – Kraus
• The Beast in the Cellar (1970) – Sir Bernard Newsmith
• Them (1970) – Brisbane
• Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) – Dr. Lazovert
• Fiddler on the Roof (1971) – Russian Official
• The Horsemen (1971) – Zam Hajji
• Les mariés de l'an II (1971) – Le pasteur
• Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) – Duc François de Guise
• The Canterbury Tales (1972) – The Manager
• Up the Front (1972) - Muller
• Revolt of the City (1973)
• The Day of the Jackal (1973) – The Interrogator
• Murder on the Orient Express (1974) – Concierge
• Fall of Eagles (1974) – Count Stookau
• Galileo (1975) - First Secretary
• Operation Daybreak (1975) – Pyotr
• Le Sauvage (1975) – Coleman
• Playing with Fire (1975) – Un messager
• India Song (1975) – George Crown
• Il Messia (1976) – Samuele
• Michel Strogoff (1975) (TV miniseries) – Harry Blount
• Dickens of London (1976) - Legal gentleman
• March or Die (1977) – Mean corporal
• The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) – Max Kalba
• Joseph Andrews (1977) – Fop Two
• La petite fille en velours bleu (1978) – Lamberti
• Nijinsky (1980) – Sergei Grigoriev
• Masada (1981) - Roman Chief Priest
• L'Amour nu (1981) – John, le patron de Claire
• San-Antonio ne pense qu'à ça (1981) – Actor
• La nuit de Varennes (1982) – Le juge saisie
• Nutcracker (1982) – Markovitch
• Marco Polo (1982) - Pietro D'Abano
• Enigma (1982) – Actor
• Wagner (1983) – Giacomo Meyerbeer
• The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak (1984) – Actor
• Ronde de nuit (1984) – Le majordome
• My Friend Washington (1984) – Actor
• Mata Hari (1985) – Prosecutor
• A.D. (1985) - Titus Flavius Sabinus
• Morenga (1985)
• The Name of the Rose (1986) – Hugh of Newcastle
• Je hais les acteurs (1986) – Fritz Kesselberger
• Caravaggio (1986) – Art Lover
• Maschenka (1987) – Yasha
• Testimony (1988) – Gargolovsky
• Madame Sousatzka (1988) – Music Critic
• Pascali's Island (1988) – Pariente
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) – Butler
• Splendor (1989) – Don Arno
• Natalia (1989) – Alfred Grabner
• A Season of Giants (1990) - Jacopo Galli
• Vincent and Me (1990) – Dr. Winkler
• Hamlet (1990) – Reynaldo
• The Garden (1990) – Actor
• The Krays (1990) – Teacher
• Near Mrs. (1990) – Ivan, Paris KGB Chief
• The Plot to Kill Hitler (1990) – Erich Fellgiebel
• Let Him Have It (1991) – Clerk of Court
• Prisoner of Honor (1991) - Rennes Prosecutor
• Toutes peines confondues (1992) – Thurston
• The Hour of the Pig (1993) – Apothecary
• M. Butterfly (1993) – Agent Etancelin
• Agatha Christie's Poirot – Hercule Poirot's Christmas (1994) – Simeon Lee
• Jefferson in Paris (1995) – King's Translator
• England, My England (1995) – Dr. Spratt
• The Ogre (1996) – Lawyer
• Jude (1996) – Curator
• Surviving Picasso (1996) – Diaghilev
• Déjà vu (1997) – Konstantine
• The Odyssey (1997) - Aegyptus
• Anna Karenina (1997) – Pestov
• As Time Goes By (1997) – Dr Stoker
• Hilary and Jackie (1998) – Professor Bentley
• Merlin (1998) - 1st Physician
• Jinnah (1998) - Lord Willingdon
• Father Ted Are You Right There Father Ted? (1998) - Old Nazi
• Dreaming of Joseph Lees (1999) – Italian Doctor
• Festival in Cannes (2001) – Millie's Escort
• The Body (2001) – Monsignor
• The Order (2001) – Oscar Cafmeyer, Rudy's father
• Revelation (2001) – Curé at Rennes-le-Chateau
• Merci Docteur Rey (2002) – François
• Brocéliande (2002) – Brennos
• Before Sunset (2004) – Bookstore Manager
• Iznogoud (2005) – Kitussé
• Othello: A South African Tale (2005) – Brabantio
• Priceless (2006) – Jacques
• Asterix at the Olympic Games (2006) – Druid
• Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) – Rezo
• The Great Beauty (2013) – Arturo
• The Invisible Boy (2014) - Artiglio

External links

• Vernon Dobtcheff at IMDb
• Le coin du cinéphage