leader of a group of striking Irish Miners (1969) in "No Irish Need Apply". In 1970, he guest-starred in the Hawaii Five-O episode "Force Of Waves" as Cal Anderson, and he appeared in the two-part episode "The Banker" of The Silent Force in 1971. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he made four appearances over five years on the TV series Mission: Impossible as four different lead villains. In 1974, Vernon turned in a supporting performance in Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night. In 1971, he played the by-the-book mayor of San Francisco, perpetually frustrated by Clint Eastwood, in the first Dirty Harry movie. He later parodied this role in the film One More Train to Rob and the premiere episode of Sledge Hammer!. In 1974 he co-starred in the film The Black Windmill with Michael Caine and Donald Pleasence. Also in 1974, he appeared in The Questor Tapes. In 1976, he played Fletcher in Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales. In 1977, he played the husband in the Italian film, A Special Day, with Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. Villain In 1972, he appeared as a villain in the Fear Is the Key and in 1973, he appeared in Charley Varrick as mob boss Maynard Boyle. In 1975, Vernon portrayed Chicago gangster Ben Larkin in the John Wayne movie Brannigan, which was set in London, England, starring alongside Wayne and Richard Attenborough. Vernon played Dean Vernon Wormer of fictional Faber College in 1978's Animal House (a role that he would reprise in the short-lived television sequel Delta House). He also played Mr. Prindle in 1980's Herbie Goes Bananas, Ted Striker's psychiatrist Dr. Stone in 1982's Airplane II: The Sequel, and Sherman Krader in 1987's Ernest Goes to Camp. In 1979, Vernon played villainous American bigot Jonathon Pritts in New Mexico who was trying to steal the land from Mexican landowners in the Louis L'Amour story of The Sacketts. He also appeared in several cult exploitation and action films in the 1980s, most notably Chained Heat and Savage Streets, both starring Linda Blair, and Jungle Warriors, opposite Sybil Danning. He underplayed his villain image (playing a character called "Mr. Big") in the 1988 Blaxploitation spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka: a character thinks Vernon should be "above exploitation films" and Vernon replies that many famous actors have done exploitation films, listing Jamie Lee Curtis, Angie Dickinson, and Shelley Winters as