Quick Facts
Biography
John Forbes-Robertson (10 May 1928 – 14 May 2008) was a British actor best known for being the only actor other than Christopher Lee to play the title role in the Hammer horror series of Dracula films.
He was born in Worthing, Sussex. He was not the son of actor-manager Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson as erroneously stated in the press at the time of his 2008 death. He is related to Sir Johnston, being the grandson of one of Sir Johnston's brothers. He began his acting career on the stage starting at the Intimate Theatre before pursuing a film and TV career in the 1950s and 1960s, usually in minor roles, in films such as The Battle of the River Plate (1956), Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) and The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966). He made two films for Hammer, The Vampire Lovers (1970) as the Man in Black, and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974) as Dracula, and his other film credits include Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), The Vault of Horror (1973), Venom (1981) and Lifeforce (1985). On TV, he played Leonard Rossiter's love rival in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976).
His last appearance on screen was in a documentary, The Legend of Hammer: Vampires, directed by Don Fearney.
