Biography
Richard Vernon (7 March 1925 – 4 December 1997) was a British actor. He trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and worked in film, television and theatre from 1949 until 1996, frequently cast in aristocratic or official roles.
His film credits include Colonel Smithers in Goldfinger (1964), a man on the train in A Hard Day's Night (1964), Sir Edward Gait in Gandhi (1982), Fassbender in The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), and Flewitt in Evil Under the Sun (1982). On television he played Sir Desmond Glazebrook in Yes Minister (1980–81) and Yes, Prime Minister (1987), Slartibartfast in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981), and Sir James Greenley in The Sandbaggers (1978–80).
