Richard Marner

Richard Marner
Richard Marner as Colonel Kurt Von Strohm
Born	Alexander Molchanoff (1921-03-27)27 March 1921 Petrograd, Soviet Russia
Died	18 March 2004(2004-03-18) (aged 82) Perth, Perthshire, Scotland
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1950–2002
Spouse(s)	Pauline Farr (1947–2004)

Richard Marner (born Alexander Molchanoff, 27 March 1921 – 18 March 2004) was a Russian-born British stage and screen actor. He was probably best known for his role as Colonel Kurt Von Strohm in the British sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!.

Born in Petrograd, Soviet Union, Molchanoff (nicknamed "Sacha" by his family) was the eldest son of Colonel Paul Molchanoff, of the Semyonovsky Regiment, one of two that were set up for children of children who had played with Peter the Great of Russia. In 1924, his entire family left Russia and went to Finland and then Germany, before ending up in London, where Alexander's grandmother, Olga Novikov (known in the family as "Babushka London") lived in Harley Street.

After being educated at Monmouth School in Wales, Molchanoff became an assistant to the Russian tenor Vladimir Rosing, where he performed at Covent Garden. During World War II he joined the RAF, and was posted to South Africa with the Air Training Corps. After being invalided out, he changed his name to Richard Marner, and began his long successful career as a stage and film actor.

One of Marner's early stage roles – as Dracula, with Howard Dean – is still regarded by some as the definitive interpretation of the role. In 1967, well before his role as the German Colonel in 'Allo 'Allo Marner played the minor and uncredited role of a German sentry in the classic war film The Dirty Dozen. His other films include Ice Cold in Alex, The One That Got Away, The Password Is Courage, You Only Live Twice, The Boys from Brazil, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The African Queen and the Swiss film Four in a Jeep, in which he did all the Russian dialogue. He was also in the television movie Birth of the Beatles, as Bruno Koschmider.