Vernon Dobtcheff

Born in France of Russian descent, Vernon Dobtcheff nevertheless found his footing as an actor in Merry Olde England, gaining a reputation as much for off-screen support of his fellow actors as for his able-bodied film and TV work. Though not a star by any means, Dobtcheff was everything from a concierge in "Murder on the Orient Express" to a peripheral player in one of the more acclaimed James Bond entries, 1977's "The Spy Who Loved Me." Dobtcheff's ability to convincingly play Russian characters has come in handy throughout his career, encompassing a USSR official in "Fiddler on the Roof," the role of Pestov in a 1997 adaptation of "Anna Karenina." and the role of Sergio Grigoriev in the 1980 ballet biopic, "Nijinsky." Sometimes, Dobtcheff's film work has been of the blink-and-you'll-miss-it variety, such as the time he played a butler in the third Indiana Jones tale, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," in 1989.