Sir Dirk Bogarde born Derek Niven van den Bogaerde 28 March 1921 8 May 1999 was an English actor novelist and screenwriter Initially a matinée idol in films such as Doctor in the House 1954 for the Rank Organisation he later acted in arthouse films In a second career he wrote seven bestselling volumes of memoirs six novels and a volume of collected journalism mainly from articles in The Daily Telegraph Bogarde came to prominence in films including The Blue Lamp in the early 1950s before starring in the successful Doctor film series 19541963 He twice won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Servant 1963 and Darling 1965 His other notable film roles included Victim 1961 Accident 1967 The Damned 1969 Death in Venice 1971 The Night Porter 1974 A Bridge Too Far 1977 and Despair 1978 He was appointed a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1990 and a Knight Bachelor in 1992 Description above from the Wikipedia article Dirk Bogarde licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia