Bernard Hepton (born October 19 1925 in Bradford, England) is a British actor.
Hepton is known as a particularly versatile character actor. He trained at Bradford Civic Theatre school under Esme Church, and alongside actors such as Robert Stephens. He has extensive stage experience as an actor in addition to a spell as Artistic Director of Birmingham Rep.
He is a huge fan of his local Rugby League team The Hunslet Hawks, for which he played stand-off in the season 1952/53, winning a Yorkshire Cup Medal
On television, he played Toby Esterhase in the BBC Television adaptations of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People and George Smiley in the radio adaptations. He also played Albert Foiret for three seasons of Secret Army. Before that he was a guest star in an episode of the first series of Catweazle in 1970 where he played a naturalist. Other notable performances included Thomas Cranmer in both The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R, and the commandant in the 1970s hit series, Colditz.
His appearances in feature film have been less frequent. He made a brief appearance as Thorpey, a gangster in the classic British film Get Carter (1971), and another small role, as Milton Goldsmith, in Voyage of the Damned (1976).
First offered the role of Dyson, played by Dudley Jones in the "Doctor Who" (1963) episodes "The Tenth Planet".
