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.
[1] Later that year, he joined the repertory company of The Old Vic, first appearing in Franco Zeffirelli's production of Romeo and Juliet.
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 series The War Games in 1969, in which he portrayed the first character ever to mention the Time Lords by name.
[5] 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".