Tall, incisive, aquiline-featured British character actor. Born in
Fulham, London, Archard won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy
of Dramatic Art in 1938. The following year, he made his stage debut
opposite Jessica Tandy in Shakespeare's
Twelfth Night, at the Regent's Park Theatre. A conscientious objector
during the war, Archard made the rounds of repertory theatre for
several years, with intermittent periods of unemployment. In 1959, he
decided to emigrate to Canada for a fresh start. Having already booked
his passage, he suddenly received several offers to appear in
television dramas. The resulting body of work led to an audition with
writer/producer Elwyn Jones for the central
role in the projected BBC series
Spy-Catcher (1959).
For four seasons (24 episodes), Archard played the role of the real
life Lt.Col. Oreste Pinto, who used psychology and guile to unmask
foreign spies entering Britain during the Second World War. With the
part came recognition and a steady stream of work. Ironically, given
his pacifist disposition, Archard was frequently cast as military men
or police officers. He performed these to perfection, with his
trademark authoritative bearing and icy delivery. He was equally
effective as a vicar in
Das Dorf der Verdammten (1960),
and a Soviet intelligence operative in
Der Spion mit der kalten Nase (1966).
On television, he had a recurring role in
Freie Hand für Barlow (1962) and played the ill-fated
Egyptologist Marcus Scarman in
Doctor Who (1963), 'The Pyramids
of Mars'. A frequent face in horror movies, he essayed the vampire
hunter Van Helsing in the 'Dracula' instalment of the anthology series
Mystery and Imagination (1966).
He was also somewhat memorable as Major General Fullard in the film
version of Dad's Army (1971), in which
he contemptuously referred to Captain Mainwaring as "a damn bank
clerk".
On stage he was seen in
Terence Rattigan's
'Cause Celebre' at
the West End (1977) and in Peter O'Tooles
ill-received 'Macbeth' at the Old Vic in 1980. Bernard Archard retired
to his home in Somerset after his character in
Emmerdale Farm (1972) was
killed off. He died in May 2008 at the ripe old age of 91.
