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Derren was born in London on the stage, literally, by his chorus girl mother! His father Harry Nesbitt
(formerley Horwitz) was a great vaudevillian who had arrived from South Africa with his brother, Max. So his career in showbusiness
was already firmly established and somewhat destined!
Derren or 'Derry' has he started out had achieved acclaim at RADA, culminating in winning the prestidgous
Forbes-Robertson Shakespearian Acting and Kendal award. (Also there he befriended Nigel Green, who he appeared with in
William Tell, Lancelot and Sword of Sherwood) On leaving he entered Peter Hall’s Oxford company. There then
followed various repertory productions at Chesterfield, Worthing, Eastbourne, Liverpool, Sunderland and the Old Vic with Richard
Burton, with whom he later starred alongside in his best remembered film.
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| Life in Danger (1959) |
Derren first got his break on television screens in The Adventures of Sir
Lancelot in 1956 and an episode of the serial 'Sword of Freedom' in 1957. He must have made an impression as two of the creators
involved in both of these, Terence Fisher and Terry Bishop later cast him in their own projects.
Fisher in 'Sword of Sherwood' three years later and Bishop giving him recurring roles in the 'William Tell' series
in 1958-59 and his first starring role in 'Life in Danger' in 1959.
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| Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960) |
Derren then had his busiest and most successful period in the sixties both on the small and
large screen. On television he was often seen turning up as the regular heavy in various Ralph Smart and Lew Grade shows,
such as The Invisible Man, Danger Man, The Saint (and Return of) and The Prisoner. Other series that have since
been released on the Network label on DVD include; Gideon's Way, Public Eye (but not the first 1965 series!), Man in
a Suitcase and Strange Report (in 1970).
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| The Man in the Back Seat (1960) |
On the big screen he again popped up in small roles as thugs or villains in such
films as 'Room at the Top' with Laurence Harvey, 'In the Nick' with his future wife Anne Aubrey, 'Victim' with Dirk Bogarde
and 'Term of Trial' with Sir Laurence Olivier. For me however, I most enjoyed his association with the veteran
director Vernon Sewell. His three films; 'Strongroom', 'The Man in the Back Seat' and 'Burke and Hare (which Derren had to
complete directing duties on, due to Vernon's fading health), rank amongst his best. He even wrote 'A Matter of Choice'
which Vernon later turned into a film in 1963. One other significant leading role was in Ken Annakin's 'The Informers'
as the gangland leader, Bertie Hoyle. The director later casting him in his own follow up to 'Those Magnificent Men in Their
Flying Machines', 'Monte Carlo or Bust'.
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| Where Eagles Dare (1968) |
After his breakout role as the cold-blooded but clever Gestapo officer, Major Von Hapen
in 'Where Eagles Dare', things were looking very rosy and stardom beckoned. He had achieved this high point with noticeable
roles starring alongside some of the biggest names in Hollywood at that time. After the 'Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders'
with Kim Novak and in between with Christopher Plummer and Rod Taylor in 'Nobody Runs Forever, he started his dalliance
with (and proved his great knack of) playing Germans, so much to the extent that some film fans to this day still cannot believe
that he is actually English! In fact Anton Diffring once remarked that, "You are more German than I am!".
The Germans & The Notorious Squib Incident!
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| Major von Hapen Checks Out! (But how many shots?) |
First up was 'The Blue Max' in 1966 though I believe a lot more of Derren's plot inducing role
was left on the cutting room floor. Never mind, because next was what I consider the forerunner or the inspiration for the
Major von Hapen character in the movie 'The Naked Runner', alongside 'Ol' Blue Eyes' himself, Frank Sinatra. In
this he plays Colonel Hartmann who kidnaps Frank's son, in order to persuade him to carry out an assassination.
The most surprising thing about this film is that not only does he make it through to the end of the picture (for once!) but
in a very roundabout way, he is one of the good guys!
Now lets clear up his death scene in 'Where Eagles Dare' once and for all. On his last day of shooting
and after numerous takes due to misfires with dodgy squibs, the final explosion went off in his face. After being rushed to
the local infirmary and jumping the waiting queue (thanks in part to him being covered in fake blood and possessing a perfect
'bullet hole' in his forehead) he only sustained some temporary loss of vision. So an earlier or alternate take was used and
to prevent another 'who shot nice guy Eddie' debate and contrary to other websites, I can confirm that he was shot twice.
You can clearly hear Clint fire two times and if you frame by frame the DVD, you can also see the squib go off by his right
lapel, complete with smoke exiting out from behind his back. The wound on his head is already present, but I must say
I loved the way he went straight down without breaking his fall! Click below to see what Clint sent him to make him feel better!
Clint's Gift!
Other 'Where Eagles Dare' Trivia
Derren's favourite part of the film is the often imitated 'Cathedral' scene with Mary Ure.
Mary wanted real Schnapps for her drink, often causing her to fluff and forget her lines!
Despite the change of character name from the original novel and the ongoing raging debate
over what the correct uniform should have been, Derren took great pride in the meticulous detail shown when preparing for the
role. From the Gold leaf emblem representing the highest level attained for hand-to-hand fighting to making sure his Nazi
salute was eyeline perfect!
The Seventies, The Sex Comedies & The Scandal!
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| Special Branch (1969-70) |
Into the seventies and things were still going great. Derren nabbed the leading role of Detective
Chief Inspector Jordan in Special Branch, a radical new cop show. In fact it was Derren that suggested the
now commonly used method of rehearsing before takes, something that was not done back then! Other T.V. work also continued
with memorable turns in U.F.O, The Persuaders (another German, again alongside Anton Diffring!) and The Protectors. Derren
now (unwisely) dipped his toe in the then current vogue of the 70s' sex comedies. It started okayish with 'Ooh, You Are
Awful' as it was amusing to see him as mafia type boss 'Sid Sabbath' dressed in drag, complete with outlandish red wig!
It got decidely worse though when he cast his 'Not Now Darling' co-star Julie Ege in his own pet project, 'The Amorous Milkman'.
A film he wrote, directed and also made a brief appearance in, as well as reputedly remortgaging his house and sold his
yacht to help finance it. The only thing I like about it apart from the nice touches such as D.N. Dairies emblazoned
on the milkfloat, is the lovely Nancy Wait as Margo, I wonder what ever happened to her? I tried to convince Derren to
at least release it on DVD maybe complete with commentary if only to recoup some money, as I know there must be some
70s' sex comedy completists out there! However he said that the distributors held the rights to 'Lactifer
Productions', but he will have a word!
Derren's life was about to take a turn for the worse. Not only was 'The Amorous Milkman' a
critical and commercial disappointment, but this was overshadowed by some bad tabloid press. Finally the flirtation with the
British sex comedy thankfully ended after reaching its nadir with 'The Playbirds'
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| Innocent Bystanders (1972) |
These days bad publicity usually results in good publicity, but back then things were
very different. Although it obviously had an effect on his career and not to mention his private life, he continued to
plough on. Despite the subsequent lean years, he did pop up in a couple of decent fims such as the James Bond inspired
'Innocent Bystanders' (email me if you want to know how he made Geraldine Chapman talk!) and a nice psychotic turn in 'Give
Us Tomorrow', terrorising Sylvia Syms and her family.
What Does The Future Hold?
Which brings us right up-to-date.
On the previous page I included his latest work upon his return from his ten year 'exile' in Australia
and as you can see he his getting back into the swing of it and the work offers are improving.
I have included a Prisoner picture alongside, as there has been strong talk of a possible remake
with Christopher EccIeston in the lead role, hopefully repeating the same success when he breathed new life into Doctor Who.
Now wouldn't it be a good idea to have one of the few surviving Number 2's in the new show! I was also led to believe by Derren,
that he was due to be the permenant Number 2, had it not been for Patrick McGoohan's intervention, but I'm sure I will receive
numerous emails from Prisoner fans disputing this! Derren also claims that one of the Thunderbirds crew members was based
on his likeness! (You can work out which one!)
Click here for the latest on the Prisoner remake.
Final Notes & Comments
I hoped you enjoyed this website and mini-biography. Feel free to write in with your questions and I'll
try my best to answer them. I will also do my upmost to update this fansite to keep up with latest developments. In the
meantime I will leave you with the following 'titbits';
Derren currently lives on the South Coast with his wife Miranda.
Quite recently he briefly held a teaching post in drama in Brighton.
Derren's favourite actors are Marlon Brando and Sir Ralph Richardson.
He likes to paint and write in his spare time, when he has any!
Yes, that is Françoise Pascal of 'Mind Your Language' fame that Derren is enjoying a naked romp
with, along with the lovely Yutte Stensgaard in 'Burke and Hare' (the lucky devil!)
Finally, I became a fan because, even though I had always thought he was the standout in 'Where
Eagles Dare', when I watched it as a kid (I was born the same year it was released). It was really when I was younger when
I dyed my red hair blonde (all over by mistake instead of highlights) and then my mate took the mickey and started
calling me Major von Hapen! I then met my future missus who it turns out has always fancied him, so I then
decided to track down his back catalogue of work. So now you know!
Gary
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