Vernon Dobtcheff

Biography

Vernon Dobtcheff (born Nîmes, 14 August 1934) is a French-born character actor of Russian descent, best known for supporting roles in film and television. His career, spanning six decades, has been based largely in Britain.

Born in Nîmes, he was raised in Sussex, where he attended Ascham St Vincent's School in Eastbourne and won its Acting Cup. He began on stage in 1960 with the Colchester Repertory Company and soon joined the Old Vic repertory. From the mid-1960s he worked steadily in films, usually in small but memorable parts, in period dramas, thrillers and large productions such as Fiddler on the Roof, Murder on the Orient Express and The Spy Who Loved Me.

On television he is remembered for playing the Chief Scientist in the Doctor Who serial The War Games (1969), and he has appeared in many British and European series. He later joined The Borgias as a recurring character.

The actor Rupert Everett described him in his memoir as a kind of patron saint of the profession, noted for attending nearly every first night in the country. Dobtcheff has remained active in film and television, with recent credits such as The Great Beauty.

Key films

• Nicholas and Alexandra (1971): Dr. Lazovert, in the large-scale period production about the last Russian imperial family.
• The Name of the Rose (1986): Hugh of Newcastle, one of the monks in the abbey in Jean-Jacques Annaud's mystery.
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989): a butler in one of the best-known entries of the series.
• The Great Beauty (2013): Arturo, in one of his most recent and widely seen appearances.