John Vernon

From Alfred Hitchcock Wiki

born: 24/Feb/1932 (Zehner, Saskatchewan, Canada)
died: 01/Feb/2005 (Los Angeles, California, USA) - complications following heart surgery

[edit] Biography

John Vernon was a Canadian actor. He was born in rural Saskatchewan and made a career in Hollywood.

Vernon typically played a stern, authoritarian kind of character. He was best known as the title character from "Wojeck"; as the deadly serious and stereotypical Dean Wormer in one of the most famous comedic movies, "Animal House"; as the by-the-book mayor perpetually frustrated by Clint Eastwood in "Dirty Harry"; and for playing movie and television villains. In the 1990s, he played one of the lead roles for the short-lived series "Acapulco H.E.A.T".

Vernon was born in Zehner, Saskatchewan, and baptised at the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic parish in the nearby town of Arat, as Adolphus Raimundus Vernon Agopsowicz.

Some sources list his birthplace as the nearby city of Regina. 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. The role later earned him many Hollywood roles including voice acting, his first major role was in "Point Blank". After more than 100 films, his later career included mostly voice work for video games.

With his wife Nancy West, John Vernon was the father of actress Kate Vernon and singer Nan Vernon.

He died peacefully at home in Los Angeles, California of complications following heart surgery, aged 72.

(Wikipedia)