The lugubrious-visaged Polish émigré left Andrez Wajda and pals behind to make a fine living being sinister in British and American films. Starting in fine style as brooding chess grandmaster Kronsteen in From Russia With Love, and carrying on with Mosquito Squadron, Women in Love, Billion Dollar Brain et al. Also a fine sideline in telly villains in the likes of Smiley’s People, making him possibly the personification of ’60s/’70s Cold War discomfort.
FINEST HOUR: In little-seen Avengers-esque Cold War thriller The Limbo Line, cutting a dark swathe through the endless groovy pads and roll-neck sweaters as ice cold defector-recapturer Oleg.
