Richard Marner, born Alexander Pavlovich Molchanov, (27 March 1921 — 18 March 2004), was a Russian-British actor best known for playing Colonel von Strohm in 'Allo 'Allo!.
After being born in Russia, he left with his family in 1924, moving from Finland to Germany and finally ending up in London.
One of his earliest stage roles was as Dracula and is regarded by some as the definitive interpretation of the role. His film career began with mostly Uncredited Roles, most often being Typecast as Russians or Germans.
His best-known role was in 'Allo 'Allo! as Colonel Kurt von Strohm, appearing in all nine series. Funnily enough, he also appeared in an episode of Secret Army (a series frequently parodied by 'Allo 'Allo!) prior to this role.
He appeared in a Pizza Hut commercial in 1998, notable for featuring the final Soviet Union leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. His final acting role came in 2002, in The Sum of All Fears as President Zorkin.
He died at the age of 82.
Works on TV Tropes he appeared in:
Films- Appointment with Venus (1951) — German Corporal
- The African Queen (1951) — Officer of Shona
- The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) — Aide to Prime Minister (Uncredited Role)
- Reach for the Sky (1956) — German Officer in Staff Car (Uncredited Role)
- Ice Cold in Alex (1958) — German Guard
- The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) — Russian Soldier (Uncredited Role)
- Children of the Damned (1964) — Russian Embassy Official (Uncredited Role)
- Operation Crossbow (1965) — SS Oberscharführer (Uncredited Role)
- The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) — Vopo Captain
- Where the Spies Are (1965) — Josef
- You Only Live Twice (1967) — Russian Spacecraft Communicator (Uncredited Role)
- The Dirty Dozen (1967) — German Sentry at Chateau (Uncredited Role)
- Le Silencieux (1973) — Man
- The Internecine Project (1974) — German Delegate (Uncredited Role)
- The Boys from Brazil (1978) — Doring
- The Sum of All Fears (2002) — President Zorkin
- Danger Man, episode "The Girl in Pink Pajamas" (1960) — Anaesthetist
- The Avengers, episode "The Thirteenth Hole" (1966) — Man on TV Screen (Uncredited Role)
- The Saint, episode "The Helpful Pirate" (1966) — Russian Ship Captain (Uncredited Role)
- Jason King, 2 episodes:
- "A Deadly Line in Digits" (1971) — Signor Czibor
- "To Russia With.... Panache" (1971) — Markovitch
- Play for Today, 2 episodes:
- "Traitor" (1971) — Michaelov
- "Light" (1979) — Russian Embassy Official
- Z Cars, episode "Two Hundred Tartan Teddy Bears" (1974) — Roubicec
- Secret Army, episode "Russian Roulette" (1978) — Marin Marais
- Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years, episode "The Long Tide of Surrender" (1981) — Von Kleist
- 'Allo 'Allo!, 85 episodes (1982-92) — Colonel Kurt von Strohm
- Lovejoy, episode "The Last of the Uzkoks" (1994) — Bishop Theotokis
