Vernon Dobtcheff

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.

Known For

Agatha Christie's Poirot

Doctor Who

The Witcher

Highlander: The Series

Highlander: The Series

The Avengers

The Avengers

Play for Today

All Movies (163)

• Doctor Who: The War Games in Colour2024 · as The Scientist (archive footage)
• Alec Guinness: A Class Act2024 · as self
• Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba2022 · as Self
• Burning Casablanca2021 · as Corny
• The Haunting of Margam Castle2020 · as Enos
• The Violet Hour2018 · as M. Audran
• L'hypothèse de la reine rouge2018 · as Sherlock Holmes
• The Man with the Iron Heart2017 · as Emile Hacha
• Killing Jesus2015 · as Isaiah
• The Invisible Boy2014 · as Artiglio
• Horsehead2014 · as George
• Seven Lucky Gods2014 · as Lawrence
• The Great Beauty2013 · as Arturo
• Another Woman's Life2012 · as Dimitri Speranski
• Zarafa2012 · as Le vieux sage (voice)
• The Passage2011 · as Vieil homme
• Undisputed III: Redemption2010 · as Rezo
• Godforsaken2010 · as The Surgeon
• Changing Climates, Changing Times2009 · as Lucas
• The Joy of Singing2008 · as Le lecteur du bar
• Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered - Volume 12008 · as Self
• Priceless2006 · as Jacques
• Courts mais Gay : Tome 122006 · as Anthony
• For the Time Being2006 · as Anthony
• An American Haunting2005 · as Elder #1
• Empire of the Wolves2005 · as Kudseyi
• Before Sunset2004 · as Bookstore Manager
• Evilenko2004 · as Bagdasarov
• Pontormo - Un amore eretico2004 · as Riccio
• Thank You, Doctor Rey2003 · as François
• Brocéliande2003 · as Brennos
• The Red Siren2002 · as Vitali
• The Falklands Play2002 · as Nicanor Costa Méndez (Argentine Minister of External Relations)
• David Copperfield2001 · as Quinion
• Festival in Cannes2001 · as Millie's Escort
• The Order2001 · as Oscar
• The Body2001 · as Monsignor
• Revelation2001 · as Curé at Rennes-le-Chateau
• Le Prof2000 · as Patte Folle
• The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization2000 · as Cleisthenes
• Falling Through2000 · as Father
• Dreaming of Joseph Lees1999 · as Italian Doctor
• The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka1999 · as Art Gallery Lecturer
• Hilary and Jackie1998 · as Professor Bentley
• Jinnah1998 · as Lord Willingdon
• 30 Years to Life1998 · as Sandler
• Vigo1998 · as Papa Lozinska
• Spanish Fly1998 · as Carl's Friend
• Déjà Vu1998 · as Konstantine
• The Wonderland Experience1998 · as Vincent
• St. Ives1998 · as Bonnefoy
• Anna Karenina1997 · as Pestov
• The Hunchback1997 · as Father Michel
• The Ice Princess1996 · as Chancellor
• The Ogre1996 · as Lawyer
• Surviving Picasso1996 · as Diaghilev
• Catherine the Great1996 · as Naryshkin
• Jude1996 · as Curator
• Le fils de Paul1995 · as Duval
• Sharpe's Sword1995 · as Don Felipe
• Jefferson in Paris1995 · as King's Translator
• The House that Mary Bought1995
• Mademoiselle O1994 · as Rouka
• Frankenstein1993 · as Chancellor
• M. Butterfly1993 · as Agent Etancelin
• The Hour of the Pig1993 · as Apothecary
• Temptation of Sainthood1993 · as Freud
• Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher1993 · as Un Héraut / Un prêtre / Un clerc
• Obiettivo indiscreto1992 · as Primo editore
• Venice/Venice1992 · as Alexander
• Sweetheart1992 · as Thurson
• The First Circle1992 · as Riyumin
• Let Him Have It1991 · as Clerk of Court
• Hamlet1990 · as Reynaldo
• Vincent and Me1990 · as Dr Winkler
• Meridian1990 · as Priest
• The Garden1990 · as Old Man at Sauna
• The Krays1990 · as Teacher
• The Plot to Kill Hitler1990 · as Fellgiebel
• Flight from Paradise1990 · as Merrill
• The Hostage of Europe1989 · as Hudson Lowe
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade1989 · as Butler
• Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story1989 · as Doctor Webber
• Natalia1989 · as Alfred Grabner
• Splendor1989
• Berlin-Jerusalem1989 · as Editor
• The Sweet House of Horrors1989 · as The Exorcist
• Testimony1988 · as Gargolovsky
• Pascali's Island1988 · as Pariente
• Catacombs1988 · as Brother Timothy
• Le due croci1988 · as Bischof de Jong
• Maigret1988 · as Gannett
• The Name of the Rose1986 · as Hugh of Newcastle
• Caravaggio1986 · as Art Lover
• Mata Hari1985 · as Prosecutor
• Much Ado About Nothing1984 · as Don John
• Gwendoline1984 · as Shirko
• Night Patrol1984 · as James
• The Devil's Lieutenant1984 · as Dr. Goldschmiedt
• Mon Ami Washington1984
• An Englishman Abroad1983 · as Guildenstern
• The Scarlet and the Black1983 · as Count Langenthal
• Nutcracker1982 · as Markovitch
• Enigma1982 · as Minister
• That Night of Varennes1982 · as Judge at the confiscation
• Troilus & Cressida1981 · as Agamemnon
• L'Amour nu1981 · as John, le patron de Claire
• Sredni Vashtar1981 · as Dr. Russell
• Condorman1981 · as Russian Agent
• Le Beau Monde1981 · as Pablo
• San-Antonio ne pense qu'à ça1981 · as Un tueur russe
• Nijinsky1980 · as Sergei Grigoriev
• Ike1979 · as Gen. Charles DeGaulle
• Romeo and Juliet1978 · as Apothecary
• Question of Love1978 · as Peter
• Last In, First Out1978 · as Le réceptionniste
• Little Girl in Blue Velvet1978 · as Lamberti
• The Roads of Exile1978 · as Le peintre Ramsay
• March or Die1977 · as Mean Corporal
• The Spy Who Loved Me1977 · as Max Kalba
• Joseph Andrews1977 · as Fop Two
• The Achurch Letters1977 · as Eugene
• French Without Tears1976 · as Monsieur Maingot
• Rumpole of the Bailey1975 · as Magnus Piecan
• Lovers Like Us1975 · as Coleman
• Operation: Daybreak1975 · as Pyotr
• The Messiah1975 · as Samuel
• The Secret Agent1975 · as Karl Yundt
• Cat and Mouse1975 · as Germain's accomplice
• Van der Valk and the Scapegoat1975 · as Reinders
• India Song1975 · as Georges Crawn
• Playing with Fire1975 · as A messenger
• Scent of a Woman1974 · as Don Carlo (uncredited)
• Murder on the Orient Express1974 · as Concierge
• The Marseille Contract1974 · as Lazar
• Soft Beds, Hard Battles1974 · as Padre
• Impossible Object1973 · as Private Investigator
• The Day of the Jackal1973 · as Interrogator
• An Echo of Theresa1973 · as Bannerheim
• The Canterbury Tales1972 · as The Franklin
• Up the Front1972 · as Muller
• Far from Dallas1972
• Mary, Queen of Scots1971 · as Duc De Guise
• Nicholas and Alexandra1971 · as Dr. Lazovert
• Fiddler on the Roof1971 · as Russian Official
• The Horsemen1971 · as Zam Hajji
• The Beast in the Cellar1971 · as Newsmith
• The Married Couple of the Year Two1971 · as le pasteur
• Them1970 · as Brisbane
• Darling Lili1970 · as Otto Kraus
• Anne of the Thousand Days1969 · as Mendoza
• Doctor Who: The War Games1969 · as Chief Scientist
• Baby Love1969 · as Man in Cinema
• The Assassination Bureau1969 · as Baron Muntzof
• Beach Head1969 · as N.G. Waldron
• A Dandy in Aspic1968
• The Taming of the Shrew1967 · as Pedant
• The World of George Orwell: 19841965 · as Goldstein
• Darling1965 · as Art Critic at Ralph Riggs Exposure (uncredited)
• Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes1965 · as Member of the French Team
• The Debussy Film1965 · as The Actor
• The Life of Galileo1964 · as Philosopher
• Parlez-nous de l'Amour—

All TV Shows (91)

• The Gold2023 · as Matteo Constantino
• The Witcher2019 · as Older Elf
• The Romanoffs2018 · as M. Audran
• Emerald City2017 · as High Born Man
• The Durrells2016 · as Mr. Kralefsky
• The Borgias2011 · as Cardinal Versucci
• The Little Murders of Agatha Christie2009 · as Anatole Deschanel
• Apparitions2008
• La Légende des 3 clefs2007 · as The anthropologist Gilles Clément
• Surviving Disaster2006
• Largo Winch2001 · as Maurice de Beliveau
• Largo Winch2001
• David Copperfield2000 · as Quinion
• The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization2000 · as Cleisthenes
• Relic Hunter1999 · as Anthony Cureton
• Highlander: The Raven1998 · as Count Van Der Meer
• Merlin1998 · as 1st Physician
• Father Ted1995 · as Old Nazi
• Highlander: The Series1992 · as Carlo Luchesi
• Highlander: The Series1992 · as Hamad
• As Time Goes By1992 · as Dr. Stoker
• The Strauss Dynasty1991 · as Hirsch
• Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story1989 · as Jules Glaenzer
• Agatha Christie's Poirot1989 · as Simeon Lee
• War and Remembrance1988 · as Henri Bulle
• Fortunes of War1987 · as Prince Hadjimoscos
• Crossbow1987
• The Return of Sherlock Holmes1986 · as Mendelstam
• Mussolini: The Untold Story1985 · as Sebastiani
• Tender Is the Night1985 · as Luis Campion
• A.D.1985 · as Flavius Sabinus
• Morenga1985 · as Lohmann
• L'Homme de Suez1984 · as Konya, Turkish Colonel, spy in the service of the English
• Sherlock Holmes1984 · as Mendelstam
• Dramarama1983 · as Mr. Rolyat
• Marco Polo1982 · as Pietro De Abano
• Goldene Zeiten - Bittere Zeiten1981 · as M. Bernard
• Private Schulz1981 · as Sturmer
• Peter and Paul1981 · as High Priest of Herod
• Masada1981 · as Chief Priest
• Ike1979 · as Gen. Charles DeGaulle
• Mazarin1978 · as Pimentel
• Holocaust1978 · as Karp
• Blake's 71978 · as The Chairman
• 19901977
• Dickens of London1976 · as Legal Gentleman
• Police Commissioner Moulin1976 · as Astman
• Killers1976 · as Clerk of the Assizes
• Michael Strogoff1975 · as Blount
• Rumpole of the Bailey1975 · as Edward Gandolphini
• Des Christoffel von Grimmelshausen abenteuerlicher Simplizissimus1975 · as Dr. Canard
• The Sweeney1975 · as Harry Kretchmar
• Churchill's People1974 · as De Reynes
• À vous de jouer Milord1974 · as N° 2
• Father Brown1974 · as Simon Vesty
• Fall of Eagles1974 · as Count Stookau
• Playhouse1974 · as Eugene
• Cartesius1974 · as Astronomo Ciprus
• Nobody Is Norman Wisdom1973 · as Proshnik
• Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em1973
• The Edwardians1972 · as Benjamin Disraeli
• Crown Court1972 · as John Maitland-Wilson
• The Protectors1972 · as Joe Flynn
• Van der Valk1972 · as Sebastian Jonge
• New Scotland Yard1972 · as Jacob Harmann
• The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes1971 · as Molbech
• Play for Today1970
• Ace of Wands1970 · as Sandor Zandar
• Codename1970 · as Herman Voss
• The Champions1968 · as Manager
• The Name of the Game1968 · as Dedushko
• The Further Adventures of the Musketeers1967 · as Msgr. de Gondy
• The Three Musketeers1966 · as Commissary
• Breaking Point1966
• Mystery and Imagination1966 · as Dr Lutz
• BBC Play of the Month1965 · as Monsieur Maingot
• The Mask of Janus1965 · as Colonel Valenkov
• Thirty-Minute Theatre1965 · as Carpenter
• Out of the Unknown1965 · as N.G. Waldron
• The World of Wooster1965 · as Music Store Assistant
• Theatre 6251964 · as Priest
• Theatre 6251964 · as Emmanuel Goldstein
• Martin Chuzzlewit1964
• Doctor Who1963 · as Scientist
• Festival1963 · as Philosopher
• Espionage1963 · as Captain of Police
• The Saint1962 · as Vogel
• The Scales of Justice1962 · as Mr. Strang
• The Avengers1961 · as Spencer
• The Avengers1961 · as Stenson
• Dixon of Dock Green1955 · as Counsel for Defence