Vernon Dobtcheff

Born: August 14 1934

Where: France

Many will recognise the French veteran of dozens of big movies...but few will be able to put a name to a face.

Dobtcheff is an onscreen old hand with almost 200 appearances ranging from the British TV sitcom Some Mothers Do Ave Em to Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me.

Essentially a support actor, he made his fleeting debut in 1965's Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines as a member of the French team.

Small roles followed and his next big screen appearance was Fiddler on the Roof.

In 1975 he kicked off his tradition of playing bad guys as the interrogator in Day of the Jackal.

He played Pyotr in Operation Daybreak the following year, as Max Kalba in The Spy Who Loved Me opposite Roger Moore and a Russian agent in Condorman.

In his native France, Dobtcheff specialised in costume dramas and could also be spotted in British TV classics including The Avengers, The Saint and Dr Who.

Later films included In The Name of the Rose, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and The Krays in 1990.

Recent work has included The Body and 2001's The Order and he can next be seen in The Wonderland Experience.