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John Keith Vernon (born Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz; February 24, 1932LuKanic, Steven A. (1995). Film Actors Guide. Los Angeles, CA: Lone Eagle Publishing. p. 359. . February 1, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada. He was best known for playing Dean Wormer in Animal House, the Mayor in Dirty Harry, and Fletcher in The Outlaw Josey Wales.
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. In 1974, he completed a season at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, playing Malvolio.
Vernon is the father of actress Kate Vernon, musician Nan Vernon, and actor Chris Vernon.
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 Wojeck in the CBC TV series of the same name. Wojeck 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 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 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 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 , 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.
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| Segment: "Captain Sternn" A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. |
| Direct-to-video |
| Posthumous release; final film role |
| + List of voice performances in television | |
| Iron Man, Namor, Glenn Talbot | |
| 13 episodes | |
| 9 episodes | |
| Episode: "Power Erupts" | |
| Episode: "Chaos in Crystal" | |
| Episodes: "The Mask of Doom" | |
| Episode: "Das Mouse" | |
| 3 episodes | |
| Episode: "Doctor Strange" | |
| Episode: "From Brad to Worse" | |
| 14 episodes | |
| Episode: "Gee, Your Hair Spells Terrific" | |
| Episode: "Hog Island"; uncredited | |
| 3 episodes | |
| + List of voice performances in video games | |||
| 1995 | Shannara | Troll Guard | |
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