John Vernon (February 24, 1932–February 1, 2005) was a Canadian actor. His voice roles for Hanna-Barbera included:
- The eponymous horse on Wildfire
- Dean Toadblatt on The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
Biography
John Vernon was born Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz in Zehner, Saskatchewan. He was a prolific stage-trained Canadian character player who made a career out of convincingly playing crafty villains, morally-bankrupt officials and heartless authority figures in American films and television since the 1960s.
Vernon has been directed by such stellar filmmakers as Alfred Hitchcock (Topaz [1969]), George Cukor (Justine [1969]), Don Siegel (Dirty Harry [1971]) and Clint Eastwood (The Outlaw Josey Wales [1976]).
After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and honing his skills in Canadian theatre and television, Vernon made his U.S. film debut in John Boorman's noir/gangster classic Point Blank (1967) as a trusted friend who betrays Lee Marvin. Vernon again failed to inspire confidence as the ineffectual mayor of San Francisco in Dirty Harry. Vernon may be best remembered as the sinister Dean Vernon Wormer in John Landis' comedy National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), a role he reprised for the TV spin-off Delta House (1979). This led to more film comedy roles, a highlight being Mr. Big in the blaxploitation spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988).
Vernon died in Los Angeles in 2005 of complications after heart surgery.
External links
- John Vernon (I) at the Internet Movie Database