Bernard Archard

Bernard Joseph Archard (20 August 1916 – 1 May 2008) was an English actor who made numerous film and television appearances. He was a tall, imposing man with a distinctive face.

Early life and career

Archard was born in Fulham, London where his father was a jeweller who became the mayor.^[1] He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and during the summer of 1939 he appeared in the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park production of "Twelfth Night" in London. He then worked on quaker land during the Second World War as a conscientious objector.^[1]

Television

Archard's first major television role, reprising the like-titled radio show, was playing Lt Col. Oreste Pinto in the BBC wartime drama series Spycatcher, which ran for four seasons between 1959 and 1961. His TV guest appearances represent some of the most popular shows broadcast in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s: two notable roles in Doctor Who; as Bragen in The Power of the Daleks and as Marcus Scarman in Pyramids of Mars, a regular role in Emmerdale; plus appearances in Upstairs, Downstairs, Rumpole of the Bailey, Bergerac, The Avengers, Callan, Danger Man, Z-Cars, Paul Temple, Dixon of Dock Green, and The Professionals.

Film

He appeared in over fifty films, including Village of the Damned (1960), The List of Adrian Messenger (1963), Play Dirty (1968), The File of the Golden Goose (1969), Run a Crooked Mile (1969), The Horror of Frankenstein (1970), Roman Polanski's Macbeth (1971), Dad's Army (1971), The Day of the Jackal (1973), The Sea Wolves (1980), Krull (1983), and King Solomon's Mines (1985).

Selected filmography

• Village of the Damned (1960)
• The Password Is Courage (1962)
• The List of Adrian Messenger (1963)
• The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966)
• Play Dirty (1968)
• The File of the Golden Goose (1969)
• Fragment of Fear (1970)
• The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)
• Dad's Army (1971)
• Macbeth (1971)
• The Day of the Jackal (1973)
• The Sea Wolves (1980)
• Krull (1983)
• King Solomon's Mines (1985)

Stage

Archard and his long term partner, Jim Belchamber,^[2] ran a touring repertory company, based in Torquay, which included Hilda Braid among its players.^[1] On the West End stage he appeared at Her Majesty's Theatre as a magistrate in the Terence Rattigan play Cause Célèbre and in The Case of the Oily Levantine by Anthony Shaffer.

References

External links

• Bernard Archard at the Internet Movie Database
• Obituary at The Independent
• Obituary at The Guardian
• Obituary at The Times
• Bernard Archard at Find a Grave