John Hollis

• Name — John Hollis • Birth Name — Bertie Wyn Hollis • Born — 12 November 1927 • Birthplace — Fulham, London, England • Died — 18 October 2005 • Place of death — London, England • Occupation — Actor • Years Active — 1959–2000

John Hollis was born Bertie Wyn Hollis in southwest London in 1927.

He played the role of Lobot in The Empire Strikes Back and the German porter at the chateau in The Dirty Dozen. He appeared in the Christopher Reeve Superman films Superman and Superman II as an elder of Krypton, and in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace as a Russian General. He also played the role of Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the cold open of the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only, going uncredited due to the controversy over the film rights and characters of Thunderball. In this sequence, his character was famously lifted from a wheelchair and dropped to his death down a chimney stack by Bond (Roger Moore) after he had attempted to kill Bond by using a remote control link to Bond's MI6 helicopter. Hollis's other film work included minor roles in Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter for Hammer Films and Gene Wilder's The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother. In television, Hollis took the role of Sondergaard in the Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who in the story The Mutants, and appeared in The Avengers episode The Cybernauts as a sensei, and in The Superlative Seven as Magwitch. He was also in The Tomorrow People. He also appeared as "Kaufmann" with a young Julie Christie in the BBC classic 'lost series' A for Andromeda. Hollis was a versatile character actor for BBC Radio. Notable roles include Magwitch in Great Expectations, Leonard Bast in Howards End, Conan Doyle's Inspector Lestrade and Shakespeare's Bardolph. He also took part in some commercial recordings, in parts as various as the March Hare in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the Murderer of the Duke of Clarence in Richard III. He broadcast his own recollections of a cockney childhood, for the BBC in the 1970s. He was originally hired to replace Keith Scott as the voice of Gordon The Big Engine in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, but himself was later replaced by Neil Crone.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1962 — The Andromeda Breakthrough — Kaufman — 6 episodes • 1963–1967 — The Saint — Maximillian Tordoff/West — 2 episodes • 1963–1968 — The Avengers — Various — 4 episodes • 1971 — Armchair Theatre — Blond — Episode "Detective Waiting" • 1972 — Doctor Who: The Mutants — Sondergaard — 4 episodes • 1980 — Blake's 7 — Lorn — 1 episode, Powerplay • 1981 — The Day of the Triffids — Alf — 1 episode • 1984 — Badger Girl — Mr Barker — 8 episodes