Vernon Dobtcheff
Known for Acting · 251 credits
- Born
- 1934-08-14 (age 91)
- Place of birth
- Nimes, France
- Also known as
- Eugene · Alexander Vernon Dobtcheff · Alexandre Vernon Dobtcheff · Vernon Dobthcheff · Вернон Добчефф
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
TV Shows (88)
Agatha Christie's Poirot
1989
as Simeon Lee
The Witcher
2019
as Older Elf
Crown Court
1972
as John Maitland-Wilson
The Avengers
1961
as Spencer / Stenson
Play for Today
1970
Doctor Who
1963
as Scientist
Highlander: The Series
1992
as Carlo Luchesi / Hamad
Sherlock Holmes
1984
as Mendelstam
Playhouse
1974
as Eugene
The Saint
1962
as Vogel
BBC Play of the Month
1965
as Monsieur Maingot
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965
as Carpenter
Relic Hunter
1999
as Anthony Cureton
Dixon of Dock Green
1955
as Counsel for Defence
Blake's 7
1978
as The Chairman
Theatre 625
1964
as Priest / Emmanuel Goldstein
The Sweeney
1975
as Harry Kretchmar
Rumpole of the Bailey
1975
as Edward Gandolphini
The Name of the Game
1968
as Dedushko
The Borgias
2011
as Cardinal Versucci
The Champions
1968
as Manager
Police Commissioner Moulin
1976
as Astman
Crossbow
1987
Largo Winch
2001
as Maurice de Beliveau
The Little Murders of Agatha Christie
2009
as Anatole Deschanel
Dramarama
1983
as Mr. Rolyat
As Time Goes By
1992
as Dr. Stoker
Van der Valk
1972
as Sebastian Jonge
Festival
1963
as Philosopher
The Gold
2023
as Matteo Constantino
The Durrells
2016
as Mr. Kralefsky
Out of the Unknown
1965
as N.G. Waldron
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
1971
as Molbech
Father Ted
1995
as Old Nazi
The Protectors
1972
as Joe Flynn
Merlin
1998
as 1st Physician
Churchill's People
1974
as De Reynes
New Scotland Yard
1972
as Jacob Harmann
Mystery and Imagination
1966
as Dr Lutz
Highlander: The Raven
1998
as Count Van Der Meer
Emerald City
2017
as High Born Man
Espionage
1963
as Captain of Police
Ace of Wands
1970
as Sandor Zandar
War and Remembrance
1988
as Henri Bulle
The Further Adventures of the Musketeers
1967
as Msgr. de Gondy
The Romanoffs
2018
as M. Audran
Fall of Eagles
1974
as Count Stookau
Father Brown
1974
as Simon Vesty
Marco Polo
1982
as Pietro De Abano
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
1973
A.D.
1985
as Flavius Sabinus
David Copperfield
2000
as Quinion
Holocaust
1978
as Karp
The Scales of Justice
1962
as Mr. Strang
The World of Wooster
1965
as Music Store Assistant
The Strauss Dynasty
1991
as Hirsch
The Edwardians
1972
as Benjamin Disraeli
1990
1977
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story
1989
as Jules Glaenzer
Dickens of London
1976
as Legal Gentleman
Movies (163)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
1989
as Butler
The Spy Who Loved Me
1977
as Max Kalba
Undisputed III: Redemption
2010
as Rezo
The Name of the Rose
1986
as Hugh of Newcastle
Murder on the Orient Express
1974
as Concierge
Before Sunset
2004
as Bookstore Manager
The Day of the Jackal
1973
as Interrogator
Anna Karenina
1997
as Pestov
The Great Beauty
2013
as Arturo
Fiddler on the Roof
1971
as Russian Official
The Canterbury Tales
1972
as The Franklin
The Hunchback
1997
as Father Michel
The Invisible Boy
2014
as Artiglio
Ike
1979
as Gen. Charles DeGaulle
Gwendoline
1984
as Shirko
Vincent and Me
1990
as Dr Winkler
Priceless
2006
as Jacques
The Passage
2011
as Vieil homme
The Man with the Iron Heart
2017
as Emile Hacha
Brocéliande
2003
as Brennos
Zarafa
2012
as Le vieux sage (voice)
Playing with Fire
1975
as A messenger
Operation: Daybreak
1975
as Pyotr
M. Butterfly
1993
as Agent Etancelin
The Taming of the Shrew
1967
as Pedant
Empire of the Wolves
2005
as Kudseyi
An American Haunting
2005
as Elder #1
Soft Beds, Hard Battles
1974
as Padre
Pascali's Island
1988
as Pariente
Evilenko
2004
as Bagdasarov
The Order
2001
as Oscar
Them
1970
as Brisbane
Hilary and Jackie
1998
as Professor Bentley
Scent of a Woman
1974
as Don Carlo (uncredited)
March or Die
1977
as Mean Corporal
The Scarlet and the Black
1983
as Count Langenthal
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes
1965
as Member of the French Team
Enigma
1982
as Minister
L'hypothèse de la reine rouge
2018
as Sherlock Holmes
Nicholas and Alexandra
1971
as Dr. Lazovert
The Hour of the Pig
1993
as Apothecary
Anne of the Thousand Days
1969
as Mendoza
Nutcracker
1982
as Markovitch
Temptation of Sainthood
1993
as Freud
Hamlet
1990
as Reynaldo
The Red Siren
2002
as Vitali
The Marseille Contract
1974
as Lazar
Jefferson in Paris
1995
as King's Translator
Natalia
1989
as Alfred Grabner
The Krays
1990
as Teacher
That Night of Varennes
1982
as Judge at the confiscation
Caravaggio
1986
as Art Lover
Beach Head
1969
as N.G. Waldron
The Married Couple of the Year Two
1971
as le pasteur
The Assassination Bureau
1969
as Baron Muntzof
Mary, Queen of Scots
1971
as Duc De Guise
Mata Hari
1985
as Prosecutor
Catherine the Great
1996
as Naryshkin
Le Prof
2000
as Patte Folle
Sharpe's Sword
1995
as Don Felipe
The Plot to Kill Hitler
1990
as Fellgiebel
Little Girl in Blue Velvet
1978
as Lamberti
Jude
1996
as Curator
Let Him Have It
1991
as Clerk of Court
Surviving Picasso
1996
as Diaghilev
Killing Jesus
2015
as Isaiah
Meridian
1990
as Priest
Horsehead
2014
as George
India Song
1975
as Georges Crawn
Revelation
2001
as Curé at Rennes-le-Chateau
Night Patrol
1984
as James
Darling
1965
as Art Critic at Ralph Riggs Exposure (uncredited)
A Dandy in Aspic
1968
An Englishman Abroad
1983
as Guildenstern
Lovers Like Us
1975
as Coleman
Dreaming of Joseph Lees
1999
as Italian Doctor
The Horsemen
1971
as Zam Hajji
Thank You, Doctor Rey
2003
as François
Rumpole of the Bailey
1975
as Magnus Piecan
David Copperfield
2001
as Quinion
The Ogre
1996
as Lawyer
Doctor Who: The War Games
1969
as Chief Scientist
Mon Ami Washington
1984
Baby Love
1969
as Man in Cinema
Catacombs
1988
as Brother Timothy
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
2022
as Self
Darling Lili
1970
as Otto Kraus
Impossible Object
1973
as Private Investigator
L'Amour nu
1981
as John, le patron de Claire
Festival in Cannes
2001
as Millie's Escort
The Body
2001
as Monsignor
The Secret Agent
1975
as Karl Yundt
Pontormo - Un amore eretico
2004
as Riccio
The Life of Galileo
1964
as Philosopher
Le Beau Monde
1981
as Pablo
Question of Love
1978
as Peter
The Garden
1990
as Old Man at Sauna
Joseph Andrews
1977
as Fop Two
Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story
1989
as Doctor Webber
Condorman
1981
as Russian Agent
Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher
1993
as Un Héraut / Un prêtre / Un clerc
Maigret
1988
as Gannett
The House that Mary Bought
1995
Romeo and Juliet
1978
as Apothecary
Troilus & Cressida
1981
as Agamemnon
Doctor Who: The War Games in Colour
2024
as The Scientist (archive footage)
Flight from Paradise
1990
as Merrill
Falling Through
2000
as Father
Déjà Vu
1998
as Konstantine
French Without Tears
1976
as Monsieur Maingot
Sweetheart
1992
as Thurson
Much Ado About Nothing
1984
as Don John
Another Woman's Life
2012
as Dimitri Speranski
Jinnah
1998
as Lord Willingdon
The Achurch Letters
1977
as Eugene
Splendor
1989
The Beast in the Cellar
1971
as Newsmith
Nijinsky
1980
as Sergei Grigoriev
Testimony
1988
as Gargolovsky
Le fils de Paul
1995
as Duval
About Vernon Dobtcheff
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 Carp… With 251 credits spanning from 1955 to 2024, Vernon Dobtcheff has appeared in 163 films and 88 TV shows.
Fans searching for Vernon Dobtcheff movies, Vernon Dobtcheff filmography, or the latest projects starring Vernon Dobtcheff can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Vernon Dobtcheff Movies
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) — as Butler
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) — as Max Kalba
- Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) — as Rezo
- The Name of the Rose (1986) — as Hugh of Newcastle
- Murder on the Orient Express (1974) — as Concierge
Where to Watch Vernon Dobtcheff Films
Most Vernon Dobtcheff movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Vernon Dobtcheff, check our movies catalogue and browse page.