Tall, incisive, aquiline-featured British character actor, Bernard Archard, was born in Fulham, London, and won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1938. He made his stage debut the following year, opposite Jessica Tandy, in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Regent's Park Theatre.
As a conscientious objector during World War II, Archard made the rounds of repertory theatre for several years, with intermittent periods of unemployment. In 1959, he decided to emigrate to Canada for a fresh start, but before departing, he received several offers to appear in television dramas.
This led to an audition with writer/producer Elwyn Jones for the central role in the projected BBC series Spy-Catcher, and Archard went on to play the role of Lt. Col. Oreste Pinto for four seasons. With this part came recognition and a steady stream of work, and Archard was frequently cast as military or police officers, which he performed to perfection with his trademark authoritative bearing and icy delivery.
He also appeared in various films and television shows, including Village of the Damned, The Spy with a Cold Nose, Z Cars, Doctor Who, Mystery and Imagination, and Dad's Army. On stage, he was seen in Terence Rattigan's Cause Celebre at the West End and in Peter O'Toole's ill-received Macbeth at the Old Vic in 1980.
Archard retired to his home in Somerset after his character in Emmerdale Farm was killed off, and he died in May 2008 at the ripe old age of 91.
