Toronto — He was the smarmy Dean Wormer in the sophomoric cult movie Animal House. He was a bad guy who got tossed out a window to his death by the even badder Lee Marvin in Point Blank. But Canadians may best remember actor John Vernon as a crusading coroner in the groundbreaking 1960s CBC crime series Wojeck. Mr. Vernon, 72, died peacefully at his Los Angeles home on Tuesday, his family said. With his pockmarked face and heavy-lidded eyes, Mr. Vernon made an ideal villain in dozens of the 85 motion pictures he made over a four-decade career. But...