Derren Nesbitt (born Derren Michael Horwitz; 19 June 1935) is a British actor. Nesbitt's film career began in the late 1950s, and he appeared in many British television series throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for his role as Major von Hapen in the 1968 film Where Eagles Dare.
Acting career
Nesbitt's television appearances began in the 1950s, playing numerous different roles in series such as The Adventures of Sir Lancelot and The Adventures of William Tell; he was often billed as Derry Nesbitt at this stage of his career. He went on to play the villain in a number of well-known TV series of the 60s and 70s, including Danger Man, The Saint, Doctor Who, The Prisoner, Gideon's Way, Man in a Suitcase, UFO and The Persuaders!. In 1969 he took on the role of DCI Jordan in the police drama Special Branch.
Nesbitt has also appeared in film roles such as a predatory blackmailer of gay men in Victim (1961), a murderous pimp in The Informers (1963), a slimy assassin in Nobody Runs Forever, and the suspicious Gestapo officer in Where Eagles Dare (1968). Nesbitt was keen to be as authentic as possible with his character in Where Eagles Dare. Whilst on location, he requested to meet a former member of the Gestapo to better understand how to play the character and to get the military regalia correct. He was injured on set whilst filming the scene in which his character is killed. The blood squib attached to Nesbitt exploded with such force that he was temporarily blinded, though he made a quick recovery.A Conversation with Derren Nesbitt. "Major von Hapen" in "Where Eagles Dare". YouTube (10 June 2013). Retrieved on 2015-11-20. He also had leading roles in classic early sixties 'B' Movies The Man in the Back Seat and Strongroom, both directed by Vernon Sewell.
In 2018, Nesbitt played the leading role, as a drag queen, in a British independent film, Tucked.
Writer and producer Nesbitt wrote, produced and directed The Amorous Milkman, a 1975 British sex comedy film, starring Julie Ege, Diana Dors and Brendan Price. It was based on his 1973 novel of the same name.
Personal life Nesbitt has been married four times and has five children.
In 1961, he married the actress Anne Aubrey; the couple had a daughter the next year. On 25 January 1973, he was fined £250 when he pleaded guilty to two charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in October the previous year. He attacked her with a leather strap after she told him that she was having an affair with another man. He also bruised her by grabbing her clothing the next day when she refused to tell him details about her lover. She divorced him a few months later.Actor Derren Nesbitt Thrashed Wife With Leather, Evening Standard, 25 January 1973Actor Spanked 'Errant' Wife With Thong, The Daily Telegraph, 26 January 1973Derren Nesbitt Fined £250 For Wife Assaults, The Times, 26 January 1973 (see Times Digital Archive)
His third wife was an Australian beauty queen, and for a time he moved to her country where he taught theatre studies at the Northern Rivers Conservatorium of Arts in the New South Wales city of Lismore. By 2014, he was living in Worthing, West Sussex, with his fourth wife, Miranda.
He is Jewish.https://www.in70mm.com/news/2023/nesbitt/index.htm
Filmography
Film YearTitleRoleNotes1958The Silent EnemyuncreditedA Night to RememberStoker1959Room at the TopThugLife in DangerThe ManBehemoth, the Sea MonsterRadio Officeruncredited1960In the NickMickSword of Sherwood ForestMartin of Eastwooduncredited1961The Man in the Back SeatTonyVictim Sandy YouthKarolina Rijecka1962StrongroomGriffTerm of TrialLodgerKill or CureRoger Forrester1963The InformersBertie Hoyle1965The Amorous Adventures of Moll FlandersYounger Brother1966The Blue Max FabianOperation Third FormSkinner1967The Naked Runner Colonel Hartmann1968Nobody Runs Forever PallainWhere Eagles DareMajor von Hapen1969Monte Carlo or Bust!Waleska1972Burke & Hare BurkeInnocent Bystanders Andrew RoyceOoh... You Are AwfulSid Sabbath1973Not Now DarlingHarry McMichael1974Invasion: UFO Craig CollinsEdited from UFO (TV series)1975The Amorous MilkmanReplacement Milkmanuncredited. Writer, Director, Producer1976Spy StoryColonel Stok1978The PlaybirdsJeremyGive Us TomorrowRon1981The Guns and the FuryCaptain Noel1983Funny MoneyJake Sanderson1987Eat the Rich Manager1990Bullseye!Inspector GrosseFatal Sky Arthur Corbin1992Double X: The Name of the GameThe Minister2006Pu-239Pepsiuncredited2007FlawlessSinclair2011The Hot PotatoFritz Meyer2012Run For Your WifeMan on Bus2014Home for ChristmasGrandad2018TuckedJackie2020The Haunting of Margam CastleHugh Morgan
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1956- 1957The Adventures of Sir LancelotSir Tristam Various other rolesSeason 1: (14 episodes)1957Sword of FreedomDi LuccaSeason 1, episode 32: "The Marionettes"1957 1961Armchair TheatreOtto Geoffrey FittonSeason 2, episode 5: "The Pier" Season 4, episode 21: "Honeymoon Postponed"1958- 1959The Adventures of William TellCaptain Frederick Various other rolesSeason 1: (8 episodes)1959The LarkinsSpiderSeason 2, episode 2: "Teddy for Eddie"The Invisible ManCorporal StephanSeason 1, episode 2: "Crisis in the Desert" Season 2, episode 1: "Point of Destruction"ITV Television PlayhouseTod BlakeSeason 5, episode 6: "The Blood Fight"Probation OfficerJoeSeason 1, episode 61960SkyportPhillipeSeason 1, episode 44Theatre 70UnknownSeason 1, episode 10: "The Neighbour"1960 1961Danger ManHans Vogeler Hugo MorelliSeason 1: (2 episodes)1961International DetectiveIstvan MartosSeason 1, episode 27: "The Martos Case"1962Man of the WorldPolikoffSeason 1, episode 11: "Specialist for the Kill"1963Dixon of Dock GreenBrian ThomasSeason 9, episode 26: "A Woman Named Julie"Emergency-Ward 10Campbell GoffinSeason 1: (8 episodes)Taxi!Lennie MarshSeason 1, episode 7: "A Long Way to Go"The Sentimental AgentLewisSeason 1, episode 6: "Meet My Son, Henry"The SaintNetchideffSeason 2, episode 13: "The Sporting Chance"1964No Hiding PlaceWilf BarretSeason 6, episode 6: "The Write-off"Doctor WhoTeganaSeason 1: Marco Polo (7 episodes)The ProtectorsStodgey PayneSeason 1, episode 5: "The Loop Men"1964 1965
1966ITV Play of the WeekCaiser Harry
RickySeason 10: (2 episodes) Season 11, episode 35: "The Move After Checkmate"1965Public EyeKileySeason 1, episode 11: "Protection Is a Man's Best Friend"Gideon's WayJohn BensonSeason 1, episode 14: "The Tin God"Danger ManRachid NoureddineSeason 2, episode 4: "Sting in the Tail"1967The Rat CatchersCharles DinleySeason 2: (2 episodes)Mr. RoseFred ChaterSeason 1, episode 10: "The Deadly Doll"Write a PlayUnknownSeason 2, episode 8: "The White Christ & The Freeze Man"Softly, SoftlyNewnesSeason 3: (2 episodes)The TroubleshootersLanyonSeason 4, episode 7: "And the Walls Came Tumbling Down"Man in a SuitcaseLucas GuardinoSeason 1, episode 11: "Dead Man's Shoes"The PrisonerNew Number TwoSeason 1, episode 10: "It's Your Funeral"1969Honey LaneAl DowmanUnknown1969- 1970Special BranchDetective Chief Inspector JordanSeason 1: (14 episodes) Season 2: (13 episodes)1970Strange ReportNils PaavoSeason 1, episode 16: "Report 4977: Swindle – Square Root of Evil"GaltTV movie1971UFOColonel Craig CollinsSeason 1, episode 16: "The Man Who Came Back"The Persuaders! GroskiSeason 1, episode 9: "The Old, the New and the Deadly"1972 1973The ProtectorsBrad Huron Colin FosterSeason 1: (2 episodes)1979Return of the SaintInspector LebecSeason 1: (2 episodes: "Collision Course Part I: The Brave Goose" and "Collision Course Part II: The Sixth Man")The House on Garibaldi StreetArthur LubinskyTV movie1980Sherlock Holmes and Doctor WatsonGeorge WhartonSeason 1, episode 20: "The Case of the Luckless Gambler"1982The Chinese DetectiveGunther EsslinSeason 2, episode 6: "Chorale"1988 1990
1993The Comic Strip Presents...Various charactersSeason 4, episode 1: "The Strike" Season 5: (2 episodes)
Season 7, episode 2: "Space Virgins from Planet Sex"1990BergeracDennis SwainSeason 8, episode 2: "My Name's Sergeant Bergerac"1993Hale and PaceUnknownSeason 5, episode 62004The CourtroomJudge Arnold FrancisSeason 1: (11 episodes)2025The Prisoner of Portmeirion: Our LivesHimself
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