Richard Vernon Video | Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi

Richard Vernon (7 March 1925 – 4 December 1997) was a British actor. He appeared in many feature films and television programmes, often in aristocratic or supercilious roles. Prematurely balding and greying, Vernon settled in to playing archetypal middle-aged lords and military types while still in his 30s. He was educated at Reading School and Leighton Park School (both in Reading, Berkshire) and during World War II served in the Royal Navy. Vernon trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama. In 1960, Vernon appeared in an adaptation of A.J. Cronin's novel, The... MORE

Richard Vernon (7 March 1925 – 4 December 1997) was a British actor. He appeared in many feature films and television programmes, often in aristocratic or supercilious roles. Prematurely balding and greying, Vernon settled in to playing archetypal middle-aged lords and military types while still in his 30s. He was educated at Reading School and Leighton Park School (both in Reading, Berkshire) and during World War II served in the Royal Navy. Vernon trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama. In 1960, Vernon appeared in an adaptation of A.J. Cronin's novel, The Citadel. An early leading role was as wartime agent-turned-criminologist Edwin Oldenshaw in the TV series The Man in Room 17 (1965–66) and its sequel The Fellows (1967). He also played a small role as Colonel Smithers opposite Sean Connery in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger around a dinner table when they are discussing how Auric Goldfinger transports his gold overseas. He is remembered for his parts as the unnamed 'city gent' reluctantly sharing a train compartment with the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night, the planetary designer Slartibartfast (designer of fjords) in the BBC radio and TV series The LESS