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.

Filmography

• 2024Doctor Who: The War Games in Colour — The Scientist (archive footage)
• The Gold — Matteo Constantino
• 2021Burning Casablanca — Corny
• 2020The Haunting of Margam Castle — Enos
• The Witcher — Older Elf
• 2018L'hypothèse de la reine rouge — Sherlock Holmes
• The Romanoffs — M. Audran
• 2018The Violet Hour — M. Audran
• Emerald City — High Born Man
• 2017The Man with the Iron Heart — Emile Hacha
• The Durrells — Mr. Kralefsky
• 2015Killing Jesus — Isaiah
• 2014Horsehead — George
• 2014Seven Lucky Gods — Lawrence
• 2014The Invisible Boy — Artiglio
• 2013The Great Beauty — Arturo
• 2012Another Woman's Life — Dimitri Speranski
• 2012Zarafa — Le vieux sage (voice)
• The Borgias — Cardinal Versucci
• 2011The Passage — Vieil homme
• 2010Godforsaken — The Surgeon
• 2010Undisputed III: Redemption — Rezo
• 2009Changing Climates, Changing Times — Lucas
• The Little Murders of Agatha Christie — Anatole Deschanel
• 2008Accordez-moi — Joseph Von Stieglitz
• Apparitions
• 2008The Joy of Singing — Le lecteur du bar
• La Légende des 3 clefs — The anthropologist Gilles Clément
• 2006Courts mais Gay : Tome 12 — Anthony
• 2006For the Time Being — Anthony
• 2006Priceless — Jacques
• Surviving Disaster
• 2005An American Haunting — Elder #1
• 2005Empire of the Wolves — Kudseyi
• 2004Before Sunset — Bookstore Manager
• 2004Evilenko — Bagdasarov
• 2004Pontormo - Un amore eretico — Riccio
• 2003Brocéliande — Brennos
• 2003Thank You, Doctor Rey — François
• 2002The Falklands Play — Nicanor Costa Méndez (Argentine Minister of External Relations)
• 2002The Red Siren — Vitali
• 2001David Copperfield — Quinion
• 2001Festival in Cannes — Millie's Escort
• Largo Winch — Maurice de Beliveau
• 2001Revelation — Curé at Rennes-le-Chateau
• 2001The Body — Monsignor
• 2001The Order — Oscar
• David Copperfield — Quinion
• 2000Falling Through — Father
• 2000Le Prof — Patte Folle
• 2000The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization — Cleisthenes
• The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization — Cleisthenes
• 1999Dreaming of Joseph Lees — Italian Doctor
• Relic Hunter — Anthony Cureton
• 1999The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka — Art Gallery Lecturer
• 199830 Years to Life — Sandler
• 1998Déjà Vu — Konstantine
• Highlander: The Raven — Count Van Der Meer
• 1998Hilary and Jackie — Professor Bentley
• 1998Jinnah — Lord Willingdon
• Merlin — 1st Physician
• 1998Spanish Fly — Carl's Friend
• 1998St. Ives — Bonnefoy
• 1998The Wonderland Experience — Vincent
• 1998Vigo — Papa Lozinska
• 1997Anna Karenina — Pestov
• 1997The Hunchback — Father Michel
• The Odyssey — Aegyptius
• 1996Catherine the Great — Naryshkin
• 1996Jude — Curator
• 1996Surviving Picasso — Diaghilev
• 1996The Ice Princess — Chancellor
• 1996The Ogre — Lawyer
• Father Ted — Old Nazi
• 1995Jefferson in Paris — King's Translator
• 1995Le fils de Paul — Duval
• 1995Sharpe's Sword — Don Felipe
• 1995The House that Mary Bought
• 1994Mademoiselle O — Rouka
• 1993Frankenstein — Chancellor
• 1993Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher — Un Héraut / Un prêtre / Un clerc
• 1993M. Butterfly — Agent Etancelin
• Sharpe — Don Felipe
• 1993Temptation of Sainthood — Freud
• 1993The Hour of the Pig — Apothecary
• As Time Goes By — Dr. Stoker
• Highlander: The Series — Carlo Luchesi, Hamad
• 1992Obiettivo indiscreto — Primo editore
• 1992Sweetheart — Thurson
• 1992The First Circle — Riyumin
• 1992Venice/Venice — Alexander
• 1991Let Him Have It — Clerk of Court
• The Strauss Dynasty — Hirsch
• 1990Flight from Paradise — Merrill
• 1990Hamlet — Reynaldo
• 1990Meridian — Priest
• 1990The Garden — Old Man at Sauna
• 1990The Krays — Teacher
• 1990The Plot to Kill Hitler — Fellgiebel
• 1990Vincent and Me — Dr Winkler
• Agatha Christie's Poirot — Simeon Lee
• 1989Berlin-Jerusalem — Editor
• 1989Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade — Butler
• 1989Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story — Doctor Webber
• 1989Natalia — Alfred Grabner
• Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story — Jules Glaenzer
• 1989Splendor
• 1989The Hostage of Europe — Hudson Lowe
• 1989The Sweet House of Horrors — The Exorcist
• 1988Catacombs — Brother Timothy
• 1988Le due croci — Bischof de Jong
• 1988Maigret — Gannett
• 1988Pascali's Island — Pariente
• 1988Testimony — Gargolovsky
• War and Remembrance — Henri Bulle
• Crossbow
• Fortunes of War — Prince Hadjimoscos
• 1986Caravaggio — Art Lover
• If Tomorrow Comes — Boris Melnikov
• 1986The Name of the Rose — Hugh of Newcastle
• The Return of Sherlock Holmes — Mendelstam
• A.D. — Flavius Sabinus
• 1985Mata Hari — Prosecutor
• Morenga — Lohmann
• Mussolini: The Untold Story — Sebastiani
• Tender Is the Night — Luis Campion
• 1984Gwendoline — Shirko
• L'Homme de Suez — Konya, Turkish Colonel, spy in the service of the English
• 1984Mon Ami Washington
• 1984Much Ado About Nothing — Don John
• 1984Night Patrol — James
• Sherlock Holmes — Mendelstam
• 1984The Devil's Lieutenant — Dr. Goldschmiedt
• 1983An Englishman Abroad — Guildenstern
• Dramarama — Mr. Rolyat
• 1983The Scarlet and the Black — Count Langenthal
• 1982Enigma — Minister
• Marco Polo — Pietro De Abano
• 1982Nutcracker — Markovitch
• 1982That Night of Varennes — Judge at the confiscation
• 1981Condorman — Russian Agent
• Goldene Zeiten - Bittere Zeiten — M. Bernard
• 1981L'Amour nu — John, le patron de Claire
• 1981Le Beau Monde — Pablo
• Masada — Chief Priest
• Peter and Paul — High Priest of Herod
• Private Schulz — Sturmer
• 1981San-Antonio ne pense qu'à ça — Un tueur russe
• 1981Sredni Vashtar — Dr. Russell
• 1981Troilus & Cressida — Agamemnon
• 1980Nijinsky — Sergei Grigoriev
• 1979Ike — Gen. Charles DeGaulle
• Ike — Gen. Charles DeGaulle
• Turning Year Tales — Bailiff
• Blake's 7 — The Chairman
• Holocaust — Karp
• 1978Last In, First Out — Le réceptionniste
• 1978Little Girl in Blue Velvet — Lamberti
• Mazarin — Pimentel
• 1978Question of Love — Peter
• 1978Romeo and Juliet — Apothecary
• 1978The Roads of Exile — Le peintre Ramsay
• 1990
• 1977Joseph Andrews — Fop Two
• 1977March or Die — Mean Corporal
• 1977The Achurch Letters — Eugene
• 1977The Spy Who Loved Me — Max Kalba
• Dickens of London — Legal Gentleman
• 1976French Without Tears — Monsieur Maingot
• Killers — Clerk of the Assizes
• Police Commissioner Moulin — Astman
• 1975Cat and Mouse — Germain's accomplice
• Des Christoffel von Grimmelshausen abenteuerlicher Simplizissimus — Dr. Canard
• 1975India Song — Georges Crawn
• 1975Lovers Like Us — Coleman
• Michael Strogoff — Blount
• 1975Operation: Daybreak — Pyotr
• 1975Playing with Fire — A messenger
• 1975Rumpole of the Bailey — Magnus Piecan
• Rumpole of the Bailey — Edward Gandolphini
• 1975The Messiah — Samuel
• 1975The Secret Agent — Karl Yundt
• The Sweeney — Harry Kretchmar
• 1975Van der Valk and the Scapegoat — Reinders
• Cartesius — Astronomo Ciprus
• Churchill's People — De Reynes
• Fall of Eagles — Count Stookau
• Father Brown — Simon Vesty
• 1974Murder on the Orient Express — Concierge
• Playhouse — Eugene
• 1974Scent of a Woman — Don Carlo (uncredited)
• 1974Soft Beds, Hard Battles — Padre
• 1974The Marseille Contract — Lazar
• À vous de jouer Milord — N° 2
• 1973An Echo of Theresa — Bannerheim
• 1973Impossible Object — Private Investigator
• Nobody Is Norman Wisdom — Proshnik
• Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
• 1973The Day of the Jackal — Interrogator
• Crown Court — John Maitland-Wilson
• 1972Far from Dallas
• New Scotland Yard — Jacob Harmann
• 1972The Canterbury Tales — The Franklin
• The Edwardians — Benjamin Disraeli
• The Protectors — Joe Flynn
• 1972Up the Front — Muller
• Van der Valk — Sebastian Jonge
• 1971Fiddler on the Roof — Russian Official
• 1971Mary, Queen of Scots — Duc De Guise
• 1971Nicholas and Alexandra — Dr. Lazovert
• 1971The Beast in the Cellar — Newsmith
• 1971The Horsemen — Zam Hajji
• 1971The Married Couple of the Year Two — le pasteur
• The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes — Molbech
• Ace of Wands — Sandor Zandar
• Codename — Herman Voss
• 1970Darling Lili — Otto Kraus
• Play for Today
• 1970Them — Brisbane
• 1969Anne of the Thousand Days — Mendoza
• 1969Baby Love — Man in Cinema
• 1969Beach Head — N.G. Waldron
• 1969Doctor Who: The War Games — Chief Scientist
• 1969The Assassination Bureau — Baron Muntzof
• 1968A Dandy in Aspic
• The Champions — Manager
• The Name of the Game — Dedushko
• The Further Adventures of the Musketeers — Msgr. de Gondy
• 1967The Taming of the Shrew — Pedant
• Breaking Point
• Mystery and Imagination — Dr Lutz
• The Three Musketeers — Commissary
• BBC Play of the Month — Monsieur Maingot
• 1965Darling — Art Critic at Ralph Riggs Exposure (uncredited)
• Out of the Unknown — N.G. Waldron
• 1965The Debussy Film — The Actor
• The Mask of Janus — Colonel Valenkov
• 1965The World of George Orwell: 1984 — Goldstein
• The World of Wooster — Music Store Assistant
• Thirty-Minute Theatre — Carpenter
• 1965Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes — Member of the French Team
• Martin Chuzzlewit
• The Count of Monte Cristo — Prison Inspector
• 1964The Life of Galileo — Philosopher
• The Protectors — Cherni
• Theatre 625 — Priest, Emmanuel Goldstein
• Doctor Who — Scientist
• Espionage — Captain of Police
• Festival — Philosopher
• The Saint — Vogel
• The Scales of Justice — Mr. Strang
• The Avengers — Spencer, Stenson
• Dixon of Dock Green — Counsel for Defence
• Parlez-nous de l'Amour

Appearances as themselves (3)

• 2024Alec Guinness: A Class Act — self
• 2022Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba — Self
• 2008Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered - Volume 1 — Self