Introduction
Bernard Joseph Archard (20 August 1916 – 1 May 2008) was an English actor who made numerous film and television appearances.
Early life and career
Archard was born in Fulham, London, where his father Alfred James was a jeweller. His paternal grandfather Alfred Charles Archard and great grandfather Henry Archard were clockmakers, watchmakers and jewellers in Mayfair, West London during the 1800s. Link to Henry Archard clock : [1] He was the maternal grandson of James Matthew Littleboy, Mayor of Fulham, 1906–07. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and in summer 1939 he appeared in the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park, London, production of Twelfth Night. As a conscientious objector during the Second World War, he worked on Quaker land.
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, The Children of the New Forest (the 1964 BBC edition), 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), 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
- The Secret Man (1958) – Inspector White
- Corridors of Blood (1958) – Hospital Officer
- Village of the Damned (1960) – Vicar
- Man Detained (1961) – Inspector Verity
- The Clue of the New Pine (1961) – Superintendent Carver
- Flat Two (1962) – Insp. Trainer
- The Password Is Courage (1962) – 1st Prisoner of War
- Two Letter Alibi (1962) – Duke
- The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) – Insp. Pike
- Silent Playground (1963) – Insp. Duffy
- The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966) – Russian Intelligence Officer
- The Mini-Affair (1967) – Sir Basil Grinling
- Play Dirty (1968) – Col. Homerton
- The File of the Golden Goose (1969) – Collins
- Run a Crooked Mile (1969) (TV) – Business Spokesman
- Fragment of Fear (1970) – Priest
- Song of Norway (1970) – George Nordraak
- The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) – Prof. Heiss
- Faroust: Last of the Pharaohs (1970)
- Dad's Army (1971) – Maj. Gen. Fullard
- Macbeth (1971) – Angus
- The Day of the Jackal (1973) – Detective Hughes
- The Hiding Place (1975) – Lt. Rahms
- Smuga cienia (1976) – Capt. Ellis
- The Sea Wolves (1980) – Underhill
- A Tale of Two Cities (1980) – Court President
- Inside the Third Reich (1982) – Dr. Hans Flachsner
- Clash of Loyalties (1983) – Sir Percy Cox
- Krull (1983) – Eirig
- King Solomon's Mines (1985) – Professor Huston (uncredited)
- God's Outlaw (1986) – Sir Thomas More
- Hidden agenda (1990) – Sir Robert Neil
Stage
Archard and his long term partner, James Belchamber, ran a touring repertory company, based in Torquay, which included Hilda Braid among its players. 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.