Derren Nesbitt facts for kids

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 perhaps 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 Victim (1961), The Informers (1963), Nobody Runs Forever, and 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. 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.

Personal life

Nesbitt has been married four times and has five children.

In 1961, he married his first wife, the actress Anne Aubrey; the couple had a daughter the next year. The couple divorced in 1973.

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.

Filmography

Film

Television