Richard Evelyn 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 into playing archetypal middle-aged lords and military types while still in his 30s. During the Second World War, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve and served during the final months of the war. After it ended, he was posted to Kowloon, where he directed and starred in a production of Heartbreak House. At the end of his service, his commanding officer reported "Vernon is an excellent dinghy helmsman and amateur actor: in his spare time he performs his duties satisfactorily."
Career
In 1960, Vernon appeared in an adaptation of A.J. Cronin's novel, The Citadel. In 1961, he played the father in the BBC series, Stranger on the Shore. 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, an executive of the Bank of England, in a scene opposite Sean Connery and Bernard Lee in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, discussing how Auric Goldfinger transports his gold overseas.
He played an unnamed 'city gent' reluctantly sharing a train compartment with the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night, planet designer Slartibartfast in the BBC radio and TV series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the occasional character Sir Desmond Glazebrook, a clueless senior banker, in the TV series Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, and 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. He played Admiral Croft in the 1971 BBC television adaptation of Persuasion. He played the urbane head of the Secret Intelligence Service Sir James Greenley in ITV political drama The Sandbaggers from 1978 to 1980. In 1986 he appeared in Paradise Postponed, and voiced the professor Gus in The Giddy Game Show (1985-7), He also starred in the title role of Lord Emsworth in several BBC Radio 4 series of Blandings between 1985 and 1992.
In December 1990 he began teaching a course on stage acting in Harare, Zimbabwe. He moved back to England in January 1992. His final film appearance was an appearance at the end of the film Loch Ness, which was released in 1996.
Personal life and death
In 1955 he married actress Benedicta Leigh née Hoskyns. They had a daughter Sarah, an actress (born 1956, died 2021) and a son Thomas (born 1958). They divorced in 1990.
Vernon died of complications from Parkinson's disease on 4 December 1997.