John Vernon

John Keith Vernon (born Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz; 24 February 1932 – 1 February 2005) was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood films after achieving initial television stardom in Canada, and was known for his roles as villainous authority figures.

His best-known film roles included the Mayor in Dirty Harry (1971), Fletcher in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), and Dean Wormer in Animal House (1978). In his later career, he provided voiceover work in many animated productions and video games, such as mob boss Rupert Thorne on Batman: The Animated Series and General Thunderbolt Ross on The Incredible Hulk.

Born as Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz in Zehner, Saskatchewan, Vernon was one of two sons of Adolf Agopsowicz, a grocer, and his wife Eleonore Krückel (also spelled as Kriekle or Kriekel). Both his parents' families emigrated to the Edenwold district in the late 19th century from the Austrian crownland and duchy of Bukovina. The Agopsowicz family was part of the Armenian community in Poland. Vernon was of Armenian, German, and Polish descent.^{[page needed]}

Raised Catholic, from 1935 to 1953, he attended St. Joseph's School and Campion College in Regina, Saskatchewan, where his acting career began under the direction of the Rev. Arthur Nelson and S.J. and Mary Ellen Burgess at the Regina Little Theatre. 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 for CBC Television's dramatic programs.

Vernon made his film debut in 1956 as the voice of Big Brother in Michael Anderson's film version of George Orwell's 1984 starring Edmond O'Brien. He returned to Canada afterwards, and gained experience by appearing on the TV series The Adventures of Tugboat Annie and The Last of the Mohicans. He also performed on stage with Crest Theatre in Toronto in the 1959-60 season, appearing in The Matchmaker, Under Milk Wood, Mrs. Gibbon's Boys, Macbeth, You Can't Take It With You, The Schoolmistress and Heartbreak House.

He debuted on Broadway in 1964 as DeSoto opposite Christopher Plummer and David Carradine in The Royal Hunt of the Sun. During the Golden Age of CBC Drama in the 1960s, he co-starred in Edna O'Brien's A Cheap Bunch of Nice Flowers, opposite Colleen Dewhurst; and in Uncle Vanya, opposite William Hutt and Rita Gam.

Starting in 1966, Vernon played the crime-fighting medical examiner Dr. Steve Wojeck in the CBC TV series Wojeck. It was an instant critical success, and also quickly became the most popular Canadian-produced dramatic series aired at the time. However, due to budget constraints, it ran sporadically, and the CBC could not promise that Wojeck would continue for more than a few episodes at a time. As well, the pay rate for the cast was far less than an American series could offer. With TV work proving precarious, and the Canadian film industry essentially nonexistent at the time, by the end of 1967, Vernon decided to go to the United States to further his acting career.

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 film Topaz. He appeared on The High Chaparral as the leader of a group of striking Irish miners (1969) in "No Irish Need Apply".

In 1970, he guest-starred in the Hawaii Five-O episode "Force Of Waves" as Cal Anderson, and he appeared in the two-part episode "The Banker" of The Silent Force in 1971. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he made four appearances over five years on the TV series Mission: Impossible as four different lead villains. In 1974, Vernon turned in a supporting performance in Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night.

In 1971, he played the by-the-book mayor of San Francisco, perpetually frustrated by Clint Eastwood, in the first Dirty Harry film. He later parodied this role in the film One More Train to Rob and the premiere episode of Sledge Hammer!.

In 1974, he completed a season at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, playing Malvolio.^{[citation needed]}

In 1974, he co-starred in the film The Black Windmill with Michael Caine and Donald Pleasence. Also in 1974, he appeared in The Questor Tapes.

In 1976, he played Fletcher in Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales.

In 1977, he played the husband in the Italian film A Special Day, with Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.

In 1972, he appeared as a villain in Fear Is the Key and in 1973, Vernon appeared in Charley Varrick, as a sketchy banker with a bigtime mob connection, Maynard Boyle.

In 1975, Vernon portrayed Chicago gangster Ben Larkin in the John Wayne film Brannigan, which was set in London, England, starring alongside Wayne and Richard Attenborough.

Vernon played Dean Vernon Wormer of fictional Faber College in 1978's Animal House (a role that he would reprise in the short-lived television sequel Delta House). He also played Mr. Prindle in 1980's Herbie Goes Bananas, Ted Striker's psychiatrist Dr. Stone in 1982's Airplane II: The Sequel (having appeared in a small role in the original 1956 television play on which Airplane! had been based, Flight into Danger), and Sherman Krader in 1987's Ernest Goes to Camp.

In 1979, Vernon played villainous American bigot Jonathon Pritts in New Mexico, who was trying to steal the land from Mexican landowners in the Louis L'Amour story of The Sacketts.

In 1980, Vernon made a guest appearance in the TV series The Littlest Hobo, playing the cruel hunter Sam Burrows.

He also appeared in several cult exploitation and action films in the 1980s, most notably Chained Heat and Savage Streets, both starring Linda Blair, and Jungle Warriors, opposite Sybil Danning. He underplayed his villain image (playing a character called "Mr. Big") in the 1988 Blaxploitation spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka: a character thinks Vernon should be "above exploitation films" and Vernon replies that many famous actors have done exploitation films, listing Jamie Lee Curtis, Angie Dickinson, and Shelley Winters as examples.

Vernon played Ted Jarrett in the season-two The A-Team episode "Labor Pains" (1983). Vernon also played Cameron Zachary in the season-two Knight Rider episode "A Good Knight's Work" (1984). He appeared in three episodes of The Fall Guy, as Carson Connally in the season-two episode "Just a Small Circle of Friends" (1983), as Ellis in the season-three episode "Boom" (1984), and as Mardovitch in the season-four episode "High Orbit" (1985). Vernon later played John Bradford Horn in the season-three Airwolf episode "Discovery" (1986).

In 1986, he played the principal in Fuzz Bucket. He played Sergeant Curt Mooney in Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and was a lead in the short-lived 1990s series Acapulco H.E.A.T. In 1995, he appeared on Walker, Texas Ranger in the episode "Final Justice", in which he played Clint Murdock, a criminal who murdered Cordell Walker's (Chuck Norris) parents when the latter was a kid, and he also served as Walker's arch nemesis in the episode.

Vernon guest-starred as the grouchy principal Dinkler in "Brad to Worse", an episode of Duckman on USA Network.

Vernon also did voice work, including voicing Iron Man and Namor in The Marvel Super Heroes, Rupert Thorne in Batman: The Animated Series, Thunderbolt Ross in The Incredible Hulk series, and Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm.

Vernon was married to and later divorced Nancy West. The couple had three children; actress Kate Vernon, musician Nan Vernon, and actor Chris Vernon.

Vernon died of complications following heart surgery on February 1, 2005, in Westwood, Los Angeles at the age of 72.