Richard Marner (born Alexander Pavlovich Molchanov, russian: Александр Павлович Молчанов, translit=Aleksandr Pavlovič Molčanov; 27 March 192118 March 2004) was a Russian-British actor. He was probably best known for his role as Colonel Kurt von Strohm in the British sitcom ''

'Allo 'Allo! ''Allo 'Allo!'' is a British sitcom television series, created by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, starring Gorden Kaye, Carmen Silvera, Guy Siner and Richard Gibson. Originally broadcast on BBC1, the series focuses on the life of a Fren ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

, Molchanov (nicknamed "Sasha" by his family) was the eldest son of Colonel Pavel Molchanov, of the

Semyonovsky Regiment The Semyonovsky Lifeguard Regiment (, ) was one of the two oldest guard regiments of the Imperial Russian Army. The other one was the Preobrazhensky Regiment. In 2013, it was recreated for the Russian Armed Forces as a rifle regiment, its nam ...

, one of two that were set up for children of children who had played with Peter the Great of Russia. In 1924, his entire family left the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and went to Finland and then Germany, before ending up in Britain and London, where Alexander's grandmother, author

Olga Novikov Olga Alekseevna Novikoff (''c''. 1842 – 21 April 1925) was an expatriate White Russian author and journalist in Britain Notable works include ''The M.P. for Russia''. Her grandson was Russian-born British actor Richard Marner (born Alexander ...

(known in the family as "Babushka London") lived in

Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, which has, since the 19th century housed a large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery. It was named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.< ...

. After being educated at Monmouth School in Wales, Molchanov became an assistant to the Russian tenor

Vladimir Rosing Vladimir Sergeyevich Rosing (russian: Владимир Серге́евич Розинг) (November 24, 1963), also known as Val Rosing, was a Russian-born operatic tenor and stage director who spent most of his professional career in the United ...

, where he performed at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he joined the RAF, and was posted to South Africa with the

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including ...

. After being invalided out, he changed his name to Richard Marner and began his long successful career as a stage and film actor.

Career

One of Marner's early stage roles – as

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...

, with Howard Dean – is still regarded by some as the definitive interpretation of the role. In 1967, well before his role as the German Colonel in '' 'Allo 'Allo'' Marner played the minor and uncredited role of a German sentry in the classic war film '' The Dirty Dozen''. His other films include '' Ice Cold in Alex'', '' The One That Got Away'', '' The Password Is Courage'', '' You Only Live Twice'', '' The Boys from Brazil'', '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'', '' The African Queen'' and the Swiss film '' Four in a Jeep'', in which he did all the Russian dialogue. He was also in the television movie '' Birth of the Beatles'', as Bruno Koschmider. Marner's best known role was in ''

'' as German Commandant Colonel Kurt Von Strohm. He appeared in all nine series of the programme between 1984 and 1992. He also appears in an episode of Secret Army, the programme that 'Allo 'Allo parodies. His other work included roles in ''The Protectors'' (1973), ''Mackenzie'' (1980), ''

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- colli ...

'' (1981), '' Lovejoy'' (1994), and the film '' The Sum of All Fears'' (as the Russian president). Marner starred as a disgruntled father in the

Gorbachev Pizza Hut commercial Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, was featured in a 1998 television advertisement for Pizza Hut. It was filmed in November 1997 on Red Square and in a Pizza Hut restaurant elsewhere in Moscow. It was aired international ...

, starring the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. In 1991, when the

President of Russia The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...

, convened a "Congress of Compatriots" (an olive branch to some of the post-1917 White Russian diaspora), Marner was one of the 600 people who returned to the motherland. Despite being caught up in a coup, he stayed long enough to watch, through tearful eyes, the raising of the first Imperial Russian flag flown in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

since 1917.

Personal life

Marner died nine days before his 83rd birthday on 18 March 2004 in

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

, Scotland, and left a wife, actress Pauline Farr, who retained Molchanoff as her off-stage name. Marner was fluent in Russian, English, French and German. He is survived by a daughter and three grandchildren.

Selected filmography

* '' Highly Dangerous'' (1950) – Soldier on Train (uncredited) * '' Lilli Marlene'' (1951) – SS Colonel * '' Appointment with Venus'' (1951) – 2nd German Corporal * '' The African Queen'' (1951) – Second Officer of Fort Shona * '' Top Secret'' (1952) – Russian Sentry * '' Never Let Me Go'' (1953) – Toasting Russian Officer (uncredited) * ''

Park Plaza 605 ''Park Plaza 605'', released as ''Norman Conquest'' in the United States, is a 1953 British crime film. Made as a B movie, it stars Tom Conway, Eva Bartok, and Joy Shelton, and also features Sid James and Richard Wattis. It is based on the '' ...

'' (1953) – Barkov * ''

Mask of Dust ''Mask of Dust'' (later named 'Race for Life' ) is a 1954 British motor racing drama film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Richard Conte, Mari Aldon and Peter Illing. The film was based on the 1953 novel ''The Last Race'' by Jon Man ...

'' (1954) – Hans Brecht – racer * '' Oh... Rosalinda!!'' (1955) – Col. Lebotov * '' The Master Plan'' (1955) – Man (uncredited) * '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956) – Aide to Prime Minister (uncredited) * '' Reach for the Sky'' (1956) – German Officer in Staff Car (uncredited) * '' Ill Met by Moonlight'' (1957) – German Officer with Gen. Brauer (uncredited) * '' Miracle in Soho'' (1957) – Karl * '' The One That Got Away'' (1957) – German Prisoner * '' The Safecracker'' (1958) – German N.C.O * '' No Time to Die'' (1958) – German colonel * '' Ice Cold in Alex'' (1958) – German Guard * '' The Inn of the Sixth Happiness'' (1958) – Russian Soldier (uncredited) * '' The Square Peg'' (1958) – Hauptmann Schmidt (uncredited) * '' A Touch of Larceny'' (1959) – Russian Officer Cornered by Max Easton (uncredited) * '' Beyond the Curtain'' (1960) – Russian Officer (uncredited) * '' A Circle of Deception'' (1960) – German colonel * ''

Very Important Person A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots. Examples in ...

'' (1961) – German Guard (uncredited) * '' Invasion Quartet'' (1961) – German Soldier (uncredited) * ''The Pursuers'' (1961) – Aranson * '' The Password Is Courage'' (1962) – Schmidt * '' The Mouse on the Moon'' (1963) – Russian Air Force General * ''

Children of the Damned ''Children of the Damned'' is a 1964 British black-and-white science fiction horror film, a thematic sequel to 1960s '' Village of the Damned'', which concerns a group of children with similar psi-powers to those in the earlier film. The film ...

'' (1964) – Russian Embassy official (uncredited) * '' Ring of Spies'' (1964) – Colonel Monat (uncredited) * '' Operation Crossbow'' (1965) – SS Sergeant (uncredited) * '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'' (1965) – Vopo Captain * '' Where the Spies Are'' (1966) – Josef * '' You Only Live Twice'' (1967) – Russian Controller (uncredited) * '' The Dirty Dozen'' (1967) – German Sentry at Chateau (uncredited) * ''

Isadora Isidora or Isadora is a female given name of Greek origin, derived from Ἰσίδωρος, ''Isídōros'' (a compound of Ἶσις, ''Ísis'', and δῶρον, ''dōron'': "gift of he goddessIsis"). The male equivalent is Isidore. The name sur ...

'' (1968) – (uncredited) * ''Le silencieux'' (1973) * ''

Tiffany Jones ''Tiffany Jones'' was a British comic strip that ran in syndication between 1964 and 1977 and was published in ''Daily Sketch''. The series centred on a young woman who travelled to London to become a fashion model. It is notable for being cre ...

'' (1973) – Vorjak * '' QB VII'' (1974) – Wladislaw Kranz * '' The Internecine Project'' (1974) – German delegate * ''

The Girl from Petrovka ''The Girl from Petrovka'' is a 1974 American comedy-drama film starring Goldie Hawn and Hal Holbrook, based on the novel by George Feifer. It is about an American journalist, Joe (Holbrook) who goes to the Soviet Union and meets Oktyabrina ...

'' (1974) – Kremlin Press Official * '' Not Now, Comrade'' (1976) – Russian * '' The Boys from Brazil'' (1978) – Emil Doring * '' Avalanche Express'' (1979) – Field Marshal Prachko * '' Birth of the Beatles'' (1979) – Club Boss * '' The Last Horror Film'' (1982) – Screening Room Jury * ''

Nutcracker A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. The lever version is also used for cracking lobster and crab shells. A decorative version portrays a person w ...

'' (1983) – Popov * '' Pandora's Clock'' (1996) * '' The Sum of All Fears'' (2002) – President Zorkin (final film role)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marner, Richard 1921 births 2004 deaths Male actors from Saint Petersburg Soviet emigrants to the United Kingdom British male film actors British male stage actors British male television actors People educated at Monmouth School for Boys Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom Royal Air Force airmen British male comedy actors