"It is time someone put their foot down," and John Vernon was just that foot

The passing of stentorian actor John Vernon, who died February 1 at his home in Los Angeles of complications from heart surgery, has been noted here and there on the site, but we have not afforded him the appropriate recognition of a formal obit: Dean Wormer, we hardly knew ye.

Born Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz in 1932 in Saskatchewan, Vernon studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, did repertory work in England and was heard off-screen as the voice of Big Brother in the 1956 film 1984. He returned to Canada to appear on stage and on television, including the starring role in the 1960s drama "Wojeck," in which he played a coroner.

"John was superb. He really knew how to use the camera, and vocally he was just born to have a mike nearby," Ted Follows, his co-star in "Wojeck," told The Canadian Press.

After appearing on Broadway in "Royal Hunt of the Sun" he became a steady player in U.S. films, making his debut in director John Boorman's "Point Blank" (1967) as a turncoat tossed to his death by Lee Marvin. He also did a variety of voice roles for American cartoons.

Vernon appeared, usually as a heavy, Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz (1969); Don Siegel,'s Dirty Harry (1971), and Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976).

After Animal House, he reprised his role in the TV spinoff Delta House (1979). Other comedy roles followed, including the part of Mr. Big in the film I'm Gonna Git You Sucka in 1988.

Check out Vernon's voluminous film and TV credits here - his last 10 years were spent doing mostly voice work (and what a voice!)

But most notable, of course, was his hilarious, pitch-perfect portrayal of the autocratic, determined, devious, cuckolded Dean Wormer in National Lampoon's Animal House, my review of the 25th anniversary "Double Secret Probation" DVD of which follows:

One of the wildest, funniest movies of all time, a 25th anniversary version of National Lampoon's Animal House comes out on DVD tomorrow with bonus material "Where Are They Now? A Delta Alumni Update," "Did You Know That (Universal Animated Anecdotes)," and "The Yearbook: An Animal House Reunion."

Animal House is the only work of popular art to successfully recreate the empowerment of youth that was the impetus behind the rock 'n' roll explosion of 1955. All of those pent up juices running rampant within all of those adolescent bodies, hyperheating themselves into gas, had to blow eventually. When the sound connected to the feeling, that stuff blew out of there like lava out of Mt. St. Helens. Dust from Mt. St. Helens circled the earth for years after the blast. The dust from 1955 has yet to settle.

Article Author: Eric Olsen

Career media professional Eric Olsen is honored to be the founder and former publisher of Blogcritics.org, and former publisher of Technorati.com, which both rule. He is now editor, co-founder, and CEO of The Morton Report.

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