Cast & creator
Vernon Dobtcheff
Best known for Doctor Who, Agatha Christie's Poirot, Private Schulz
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.
Also known as: Eugene, Alexander Vernon Dobtcheff, Alexandre Vernon Dobtcheff, Vernon Dobthcheff, Вернон Добчефф
164
film credits
97
television credits
261
1955–2024 · acting roles
6.6
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (261)
Showing 261 of 261 credits
Doctor Who
Scientist
1963
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Simeon Lee
1989
Private Schulz
Sturmer
1981
Play for Today
1970
The Avengers
Spencer
1961The Avengers
Stenson
1961
Crown Court
John Maitland-Wilson
1972
The Witcher
Older Elf
2019
Highlander: The Series
Carlo Luchesi
1992Highlander: The Series
Hamad
1992
The Saint
Vogel
1962
Sharpe
Don Felipe
1993
BBC Play of the Month
Monsieur Maingot
1965
The Name of the Game
Dedushko
1968
Sherlock Holmes
Mendelstam
1984
Playhouse
Eugene
1974
Theatre 625
Priest
1964Theatre 625
Emmanuel Goldstein
1964
Thirty-Minute Theatre
Carpenter
1965
Relic Hunter
Anthony Cureton
1999
Police Commissioner Moulin
Astman
1976
The Borgias
Cardinal Versucci
2011
Rumpole of the Bailey
Edward Gandolphini
1975
The Durrells
Mr. Kralefsky
2016
The Sweeney
Harry Kretchmar
1975
The Champions
Manager
1968
The Little Murders of Agatha Christie
Anatole Deschanel
2009
New Scotland Yard
Jacob Harmann
1972
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Butler
1989
Blake's 7
The Chairman
1978
Van der Valk
Sebastian Jonge
1972
Dixon of Dock Green
Counsel for Defence
1955
Churchill's People
De Reynes
1974
Crossbow
1987
The Odyssey
Aegyptius
1997
The Protectors
Joe Flynn
1972
The Gold
Matteo Constantino
2023
Out of the Unknown
N.G. Waldron
1965
War and Remembrance
Henri Bulle
1988
Espionage
Captain of Police
1963
As Time Goes By
Dr. Stoker
1992
Largo Winch
Maurice de Beliveau
2001Largo Winch
2001
Dramarama
Mr. Rolyat
1983
Father Ted
Old Nazi
1995
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
Molbech
1971
Highlander: The Raven
Count Van Der Meer
1998
The Spy Who Loved Me
Max Kalba
1977
The Romanoffs
M. Audran
2018Festival
Philosopher
1963
Undisputed III: Redemption
Rezo
2010
Marco Polo
Pietro De Abano
1982
Fall of Eagles
Count Stookau
1974
Emerald City
High Born Man
2017
Before Sunset
Bookstore Manager
2004
The Protectors
Cherni
1964
The Name of the Rose
Hugh of Newcastle
1986
Merlin
1st Physician
1998
Murder on the Orient Express
Concierge
1974
Holocaust
Karp
1978
Ace of Wands
Sandor Zandar
1970
Mystery and Imagination
Dr Lutz
1966
Father Brown
Simon Vesty
1974
The Day of the Jackal
Interrogator
1973
Masada
Chief Priest
1981
A.D.
Flavius Sabinus
1985
The Edwardians
Benjamin Disraeli
1972
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Mendelstam
1986
The Scales of Justice
Mr. Strang
1962
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story
Jules Glaenzer
1989
Dickens of London
Legal Gentleman
1976The World of Wooster
Music Store Assistant
1965
The Great Beauty
Arturo
2013
The Man with the Iron Heart
Emile Hacha
2017
Fiddler on the Roof
Russian Official
1971
Fortunes of War
Prince Hadjimoscos
1987The Mask of Janus
Colonel Valenkov
1965
David Copperfield
Quinion
2000
If Tomorrow Comes
Boris Melnikov
1986
The Order
Oscar
2001
The Further Adventures of the Musketeers
Msgr. de Gondy
1967
Mussolini: The Untold Story
Sebastiani
1985
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
1973
The Count of Monte Cristo
Prison Inspector
1964
Ike
Gen. Charles DeGaulle
1979
The Canterbury Tales
The Franklin
1972
Michael Strogoff
Blount
1975
Tender Is the Night
Luis Campion
1985Goldene Zeiten - Bittere Zeiten
M. Bernard
1981
Mazarin
Pimentel
1978
The Taming of the Shrew
Pedant
1967
1990
1977
The Strauss Dynasty
Hirsch
1991
The Three Musketeers
Commissary
1966Codename
Herman Voss
1970
Priceless
Jacques
2006
Gwendoline
Shirko
1984
Anna Karenina
Pestov
1997
Empire of the Wolves
Kudseyi
2005
The Hunchback
Father Michel
1997
Peter and Paul
High Priest of Herod
1981
M. Butterfly
Agent Etancelin
1993
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes
Member of the French Team
1965
An American Haunting
Elder #1
2005
Apparitions
2008
L'Homme de Suez
Konya, Turkish Colonel, spy in the service of the English
1984
Anne of the Thousand Days
Mendoza
1969
Mary, Queen of Scots
Duc De Guise
1971
March or Die
Mean Corporal
1977
Hilary and Jackie
Professor Bentley
1998
Evilenko
Bagdasarov
2004
Hamlet
Reynaldo
1990
Surviving Picasso
Diaghilev
1996
La Légende des 3 clefs
The anthropologist Gilles Clément
2007Killers
Clerk of the Assizes
1976
Darling
Art Critic at Ralph Riggs Exposure (uncredited)
1965
The Hour of the Pig
Apothecary
1993
Nicholas and Alexandra
Dr. Lazovert
1971
The Invisible Boy
Artiglio
2014Nobody Is Norman Wisdom
Proshnik
1973
The Body
Monsignor
2001
Playing with Fire
A messenger
1975
Caravaggio
Art Lover
1986
Jude
Curator
1996
Zarafa
Le vieux sage (voice)
2012
A Dandy in Aspic
1968
Jefferson in Paris
King's Translator
1995
Des Christoffel von Grimmelshausen abenteuerlicher Simplizissimus
Dr. Canard
1975
The Married Couple of the Year Two
le pasteur
1971
Scent of a Woman
Don Carlo (uncredited)
1974
The Scarlet and the Black
Count Langenthal
1983Ike
Gen. Charles DeGaulle
1979
Let Him Have It
Clerk of Court
1991Breaking Point
1966Turning Year Tales
Bailiff
1979
Pascali's Island
Pariente
1988
Cartesius
Astronomo Ciprus
1974
Martin Chuzzlewit
1964
Operation: Daybreak
Pyotr
1975
The Krays
Teacher
1990
That Night of Varennes
Judge at the confiscation
1982
Catherine the Great
Naryshkin
1996
Dreaming of Joseph Lees
Italian Doctor
1999
The Horsemen
Zam Hajji
1971
Morenga
Lohmann
1985
Soft Beds, Hard Battles
Padre
1974
The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization
Cleisthenes
2000
À vous de jouer Milord
N° 2
1974
The Assassination Bureau
Baron Muntzof
1969
Doctor Who: The War Games
Chief Scientist
1969
The Passage
Vieil homme
2011
Killing Jesus
Isaiah
2015
Little Girl in Blue Velvet
Lamberti
1978
The Ogre
Lawyer
1996
The Plot to Kill Hitler
Fellgiebel
1990
Another Woman's Life
Dimitri Speranski
2012
Sharpe's Sword
Don Felipe
1995
Doctor Who: The War Games in Colour
The Scientist (archive footage)
2024
Them
Brisbane
1970
Vincent and Me
Dr Winkler
1990
Brocéliande
Brennos
2003
Romeo and Juliet
Apothecary
1978
30 Years to Life
Sandler
1998
Meridian
Priest
1990
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
Self
2022
India Song
Georges Crawn
1975
The Beast in the Cellar
Newsmith
1971
Lovers Like Us
Coleman
1975
The Red Siren
Vitali
2002
Natalia
Alfred Grabner
1989
Surviving Disaster
2006
Enigma
Minister
1982
Baby Love
Man in Cinema
1969
Darling Lili
Otto Kraus
1970
Beach Head
N.G. Waldron
1969
Le Prof
Patte Folle
2000
Pontormo - Un amore eretico
Riccio
2004
Mata Hari
Prosecutor
1985
The Falklands Play
Nicanor Costa Méndez (Argentine Minister of External Relations)
2002
Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story
Doctor Webber
1989
The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka
Art Gallery Lecturer
1999
Alec Guinness: A Class Act
self
2024
David Copperfield
Quinion
2001
The Garden
Old Man at Sauna
1990
The Marseille Contract
Lazar
1974
The Haunting of Margam Castle
Enos
2020
Joseph Andrews
Fop Two
1977
The World of George Orwell: 1984
Goldstein
1965
Catacombs
Brother Timothy
1988
Much Ado About Nothing
Don John
1984
Last In, First Out
Le réceptionniste
1978
Nutcracker
Markovitch
1982
Maigret
Gannett
1988
The First Circle
Riyumin
1992
Le fils de Paul
Duval
1995
Revelation
Curé at Rennes-le-Chateau
2001
Cat and Mouse
Germain's accomplice
1975
Venice/Venice
Alexander
1992
Condorman
Russian Agent
1981
The Sweet House of Horrors
The Exorcist
1989
Question of Love
Peter
1978
Nijinsky
Sergei Grigoriev
1980
The Joy of Singing
Le lecteur du bar
2008The Devil's Lieutenant
Dr. Goldschmiedt
1984
Falling Through
Father
2000
Thank You, Doctor Rey
François
2003
Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered - Volume 1
Self
2008
The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization
Cleisthenes
2000
Seven Lucky Gods
Lawrence
2014
Vigo
Papa Lozinska
1998
Rumpole of the Bailey
Magnus Piecan
1975
Horsehead
George
2014
French Without Tears
Monsieur Maingot
1976The Life of Galileo
Philosopher
1964
An Echo of Theresa
Bannerheim
1973
L'hypothèse de la reine rouge
Sherlock Holmes
2018
Troilus & Cressida
Agamemnon
1981
San-Antonio ne pense qu'à ça
Un tueur russe
1981
Impossible Object
Private Investigator
1973
An Englishman Abroad
Guildenstern
1983
Changing Climates, Changing Times
Lucas
2009
The Hostage of Europe
Hudson Lowe
1989
The Roads of Exile
Le peintre Ramsay
1978
Le Beau Monde
Pablo
1981
St. Ives
Bonnefoy
1998Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher
Un Héraut / Un prêtre / Un clerc
1993
Testimony
Gargolovsky
1988
The House that Mary Bought
1995
Flight from Paradise
Merrill
1990
Courts mais Gay : Tome 12
Anthony
2006
Up the Front
Muller
1972
Parlez-nous de l'Amour
The Messiah
Samuel
1975
L'Amour nu
John, le patron de Claire
1981
The Debussy Film
The Actor
1965
Jinnah
Lord Willingdon
1998
Frankenstein
Chancellor
1993
Festival in Cannes
Millie's Escort
2001
Burning Casablanca
Corny
2021
Splendor
1989
Déjà Vu
Konstantine
1998The Violet Hour
M. Audran
2018
Van der Valk and the Scapegoat
Reinders
1975For the Time Being
Anthony
2006
Mon Ami Washington
1984
The Achurch Letters
Eugene
1977
Far from Dallas
1972
The Wonderland Experience
Vincent
1998
Spanish Fly
Carl's Friend
1998
Night Patrol
James
1984Temptation of Sainthood
Freud
1993The Secret Agent
Karl Yundt
1975
Sweetheart
Thurson
1992
Sredni Vashtar
Dr. Russell
1981
Mademoiselle O
Rouka
1994
Le due croci
Bischof de Jong
1988
The Ice Princess
Chancellor
1996
Godforsaken
The Surgeon
2010Berlin-Jerusalem
Editor
1989
Obiettivo indiscreto
Primo editore
1992
Accordez-moi
Joseph Von Stieglitz
2008