He had such a look of intensity built in to his face that he was destined
to portray disciplinarians, authority figures and bad guys. A tall, very
stocky man with a craggy face marked by piercing steely blue eyes and a
booming voice, he has become a very familiar face both in films and on TV.
He was born Adolphus Vernon Agopsowicz on February 24, 1932 in Montreal,
Quebec, Canada (some sources say Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada) and grew
up there. He was educated at the Banff School of Fine Arts and later studied
at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England in the mid 1950s.
After returning to Canada he did much classical theatre work on stage and
appeared in films and television becoming quite prolific at his craft. He
has appeared on stage on Broadway in New York. One of his best assets is
his voice and he was chosen for the voice of Big Brother in the British
film version of Orwell's "1984." His international film debut
was in "Nobody Waved Goodbye" (1965) as a Lot Supervisor. His
film credits include: "Point Blank" (1967) as Mal Reese; "Tell
Them Willie Boy Is Here" (1969) as Hacker; Hitchcock's "Topaz"
(1969) as Rico Parra; "Dirty Harry" (1971) with Clint Eastwood,
as The Mayor; "Fear is the Key" (1972) as Vyland; "Charlie
Varrick" (1973) with Walter Matthau, as Maynard Boyle; "Brannigan"
(1975) with John Wayne, as Ben Larkin; "The Outlaw Josey Wales"
(1976) as Fletcher, one of his better roles; the film that lifted his career
"Animal House" (1978) as Dean Vernon Wormer; "Herbie Goes
Bananas" (1980) as Prindle; "Airplane II: The Sequel" (1982)
as Dr. Stone; "Curtains" (1983) as Jonathan Stryker; "Doin'
Time" (1985) as Big Mac; "Killer Klowns from Outer Space"
(1988) as Curtis Mooney, an odd, but fascinating and funny, film; "I'm
Gonna Get You Sucka" (1988) as Mr. Big and "Malicious" (1995)
as Det. Pronzini. He was a regular on the TV series: "Delta House"
(1979) as Dean Wormer; "The Blue and the Grey" (1982) as Sec.
of State Seward; "Hail to the Chief" (1985) as Gen. Hannibal Stryker;
"Wildfire" (1986) as Voice of Wildfire; "Batman: The Animated
Series" (1992) as Voice of Rupert Thorne; "Acapulco H.E.A.T."
(1993) as Mr. Smith; "Matrix" (1993) as Voice of Narrator and
"The Incredible Hulk" (1996) animated series as Voice of Gen.
Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross. In recent years he has stuck to television
doing voice work in animated films and appearing in TV movies including:
"Escape" (1971); "The Questor Tapes" (1974); "Mary
Jane Harper Cried Last Night" (1977); "Terminal Exposure"
(1987); "The Fire Next Time" (1993); "Family of Cops"
(1995). He has guest starred on numerous series including: "The F.B.I";
"Bonanza"; "Gunsmoke"; "Mission: Impossible";
"Cannon"; "Kung Fu"; "Knight Rider"; "MacGyver";
"War of the Worlds": "In the Heat of the Night"; "Doogie
Howser, M.D." and "Walker, Texas Ranger." His daughter is
actress Kate Vernon.
