JOHN VERNON

'John Vernon' (February 24, 1932 - February 1, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life

External links

Biography

Early life

Vernon was born 'Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopowicz' in Zehner, Saskatchewan, and was baptised at the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic parish in the nearby town of Arat. Some sources list his birthplace as the nearby city of Regina, Saskatchewan. He was one of two sons of Adolf Agopsowicz, a grocer, and his wife Eleonore Krückel (also spelled as Eleanor Kriekle or Kriekel). Both parents' families immigrated to the Edenwold district in the late 19th century from the Austrian crownland and duchy of Bukovina. He was of mixed Polish Armenian, Bohemian German, and Polish origins. Vernon was educated at the Banff School of Fine Arts and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London before becoming a live stage actor on the early CBC.

Career

Vernon typically played a stern, authoritarian kind of character. He first rose to prominence in the CBC series ''Wojeck'' in the late 1960s, playing a crime-fighting medical examiner (the series has been acknowledged as the inspiration for the later American series ''Quincy M.E.''). He left the series in order to further his acting career in the United States. In 1967 he appeared opposite Lee Marvin in ''Point Blank''. In 1969 he played Cuban revolutionary Rico Parra in Alfred Hitchcock's Cold War era spy movie ''Topaz''. After appearing in a string of television episodes and films, he became well known internationally for playing the by-the-book mayor perpetually frustrated by Clint Eastwood in the first ''Dirty Harry'' movie (a role he later parodied in the premiere episode of ''Sledge Hammer!''). He also played the sympathetic Fletcher in Eastwood's ''The Outlaw Josey Wales''. Another well-known role was as the deadly serious and stereotypical Dean Wormer in 1978's ''Animal House''.
Many of his later roles were as villains, and he played one of the lead roles for the short-lived 1990s series ''Acapulco H.E.A.T.'' He also did extensive voice work on animated series such as ''The Marvel Superheroes Show'' in the 1960s to '' in the 1990s. His final work was providing the voice of Dean Toadblatt in the TV series ''The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy''.

Personal life

With his wife Nancy West, John Vernon was the father of actress Kate Vernon and singer Nan Vernon. On February 1, 2005, he died in Los Angeles, California of complications following heart surgery, aged 72.

External links

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★ CBC article: ''Wojeck'' star John Vernon dies