Biography
Roland Varno, born Jacob Frederik Vuerhard, was a Dutch actor who appeared in German and American films. He was born on 15 March 1908 in Utrecht and spent much of his childhood in Java before returning to the Netherlands as a teenager. He later moved to Berlin in the late 1920s.
Varno made his film debut in the late 1920s and gained notice for his supporting role as a pupil in The Blue Angel (1930). He moved to Hollywood in 1930 and appeared in dozens of films through the 1940s, including As You Desire Me (1932), Gunga Din (1939), To Be or Not to Be (1942), The Return of the Vampire (1943) and My Name Is Julia Ross (1945), often in uncredited or minor roles. He also worked in television in the 1950s before retiring from acting in 1959.
After retirement Varno moved to Mexico, where he directed for an English-language theatre company in Ajijic. He died on 24 May 1996 in Lancaster, California.
