Ralph David Richardson
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Ralph Richardson was knighted in 1947, the first actor of his generation to receive the honor. With Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud, he shaped post-war British theater. His film credits include The Heiress 1949 and Doctor Zhivago 1965. He played God in Time Bandits 1981 and the Devil in Tales from the Crypt 1972.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Ralph Richardson — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Ralph Richardson by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Ralph Richardson — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Ralph David Richardson was born on 19 December 1902 in Tivoli Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. His father was a Quaker, his mother a Roman Catholic; after she deserted the family home, he lived with her and was raised Catholic. That religious upbringing contrasted with the secular world of the theater he entered.
He made his stage debut as Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice at the Marina Theatre Lowestoft, an inauspicious start for a man who would become a knight of the realm.
Richardson’s career took off in the mid-1930s when he became a star in London’s West End, particularly for his Shakespearean performances. In 1947 he was created a Knight Bachelor in the King’s New Year Honours, the first actor of his generation so honored, preceding Olivier 1948 and Gielgud 1953.
He appeared in three Oscar Best Picture nominees: The Citadel 1938, The Heiress 1949, and Doctor Zhivago 1965. He played God in Time Bandits 1981 and the Devil in Tales from the Crypt 1972. On stage, he received three Tony Award nominations for Best Actor in a Play: for The Waltz of the Toreadors 1957, Home 1971, and No Man’s Land 1977.
He served in the Fleet Air Arm during WWII and was granted leave to appear in the training film The Soldier’s Food 1941.
Richardson married twice. His first wife, Muriel Hewitt, died in 1942; he married actress Meriel Forbes in 1944, and they remained together until his death in 1983. They had one son, Charles David Richardson.
Richardson displayed many eccentricities. He once stopped a stage performance to ask if there was a doctor in the house, then complained about the play. He took his pet mouse for a stroll on Oxford Street and collected motorbikes.
Ralph Richardson set a standard for English-language stage acting in the 20th century. With Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud, he formed a trio that dominated post-war British theater. In 1982 he received the Laurence Olivier Theatre Special Award for lifetime achievement.
After his death in 1983, a memorial service was held at Westminster Abbey. In 2018, his image with John Gielgud appeared on a British commemorative postage stamp celebrating the Old Vic Theatre’s bicentennial. He is remembered for his Shakespearean performances and his eccentric stage presence.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Ralph Richardson — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Ralph Richardson — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Acting on the Screen Is Like Acting Under a Microscope. the Slightest Movement Becomes a Gesture and Therefore the Discipline Has to Be Very Severe.
I Don’t Like My Face at All. It’s Always Been a Great Drawback to Me.
I’ve Never Been One of Those Stage Chaps Who Scoff at Films. I Think They’re a Marvellous Medium, and Are to the Stage What Engravings Are to Paintings.
My Idea of a Director Is a Chap Who Puts Me in the Middle of a Stage and Shines a Bright Light on Me.
The Art of Acting Lies in Keeping People from Coughing.
Actors Never Retire; They Just Get Offered Fewer Parts.
Film Is a Wonderful Medium and I Love It, but I Find That I Cannot Increase My Talent by Working in Pictures, Any More Than a Painter Can Do so by Increasing the Size of His Brush.
I Have Put on so Many Make-ups That Sometimes I Have Feared That When I Go to Wipe It off There Will Be Nobody Left Underneath.
You’ve Got to Perform in a Role Hundreds of Times. in Keeping It Fresh One Can Become a Large, Madly Humming, Demented Refrigerator.
Acting Is the Ability to Dream on Cue.
Did You Ever Have a Vision of the Place We Came from Before We Were Born? I Did, When I Was About Three Years Old. I Used to Dream About It. I Even Drew Pictures of It. It Looked Rather Like Mexico.
Little-known facts about Ralph Richardson — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
He once stopped a stage performance to ask if there was a doctor in the house, and when a doctor appeared, he complained that the play was terrible.
Visiting Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, he fell through an attic floor, landing on a bed that collapsed; Vivien Leigh scolded him at length.
Police once found him walking slowly along the gutter of an Oxford Street, explaining he was taking his pet mouse for a stroll.
He received a knighthood in the 1947 King’s New Year Honours List for services to the stage.
His hobby was collecting motorbikes.
He rarely granted interviews and was known as secretive.
He was one of a trio with Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud; they appeared together in Wagner 1983.
He is interred at Highgate Cemetery East, Highgate, London.
He was nominated three times for Broadway’s Tony Award as Best Actor in a Play: in 1957 for The Waltz of the Toreadors, in 1971 for Home, and in 1977 for No Man’s Land, but did not win.
He played two roles originally played by Basil Rathbone: Karenin in Anna Karenina 1948 and Dr. Sloper in The Heiress 1949.
He served in the Fleet Air Arm during WWII and received special leave to appear in the documentary The Soldier’s Food.
He appeared in three Oscar Best Picture nominees: The Citadel 1938, The Heiress 1949 and Doctor Zhivago 1965.
He played both God in Time Bandits 1981 and the Devil in Tales from the Crypt 1972.
He was the son of a Quaker father and a Roman Catholic mother; after his mother left the family, she raised him Catholic.
He appeared with John Gielgud on a 2018 British postage stamp celebrating the Old Vic Theatre’s bicentennial, showing them in No Man’s Land 1975.
He had a son named Charles.
He pronounced his first name as Rafe.
He received the Laurence Olivier Theatre Special Award in 1982 for lifetime achievement.
In 1936, he appeared in two films based on novels by H.G. Wells: Things to Come and The Man Who Could Work Miracles.
A memorial service took place at Westminster Abbey, London on 17 November 1983.
He was offered the part of Lord Bartlesham in Roger of the Raj 1979 but could not agree to terms.
Producers considered him for a leading role in Lady L 1965.
In The Holly and the Ivy, Celia Johnson played his daughter although he was only six years older than her.
The navy seconded him from the Fleet Air Arm to make the film The Soldier’s Food 1941 at Riverside Studios, with locations at Richmond Park.
He is portrayed by Rhys McConnochie in Darlings of the Gods 1989.
He made his stage debut as Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice at the Marina Theatre Lowestoft.
He starred in the play The Kingfisher in London’s West End with Celia Johnson, directed by Lindsay Anderson.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Ralph Richardson.
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