Richard Vernon

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Richard Vernon
Richard Vernon in Goldfinger (1964)
Born	March 7, 1925(1925-03-07) Reading, Berkshire, England
Died	December 4, 1997 (aged 72) London, England
Occupation	actor
Years active	1949—1996

Richard Vernon (7 March 1925 – 4 December 1997) was a British actor. He appeared in many feature films and television programmes, often in aristocratic roles.

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 an unnamed man on a train reluctantly sharing a seat with the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night, the planetary designer Slartibartfast (designer of fjords) in the BBC radio and TV series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as Sir James Greenley ("C") in The Sandbaggers, as Lord Salisbury in Edward the Seventh, as Major Toby Smith-Barton in The Duchess of Duke Street, as the Duke of Broughton in Nanny, as the occasional character Sir Desmond Glazebrook in the TV series Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister and his role as Mr Becket in Sammy's Super T-Shirt. He also appeared in the 1965 Morecambe and Wise film The Intelligence Men as patron of the arts Sir Edward Seabrook, Lord Bartelsham in Ripping Yarns, and Squire Dale in the BBC radio 4 adaptation of The Small House at Allington.

On radio, in 1978 he played Sir Gerald Tarrant in a BBC World Service adaptation of the Modesty Blaise book Last Day in Limbo. He also starred in the title role of Lord Emsworth in several BBC Radio 4 series of Blandings between 1985 and 1992.

He died of Parkinson's Disease on December 4, 1997