Actor, born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, SWC England, UK. He made his debut at the Little Theatre, Brighton (1921), and gained an early reputation with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, which he joined in 1926. His association with the Old Vic Company commenced in 1930, and he was asked to lead its post-war revival. His many stage appearances include West of Suez (1971), The Cherry Orchard (1978), and The Understanding (1982), and he had major roles in such films as Anna Karenina (1948), The Heiress, Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), A Doll's House (1973), and Invitation to the Wedding (1983). He was knighted in 1947.
Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, did their best to make the transition to film.
Background
Richardson was born in Cheltenham, and when he was a baby his mother, Lydia Russell, left his father and took him with her to Gloucester, where he was raised in Roman Catholic faith of his mother (his father and brothers were Quakers).
Career
Stage
Richardson made his West End début in 1926.
At Malvern in 1932, he played Face in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist.
After active service in World War II, Richardson joined Laurence Olivier and the director John Burrell as co-director of the Old Vic, where his notable roles included Falstaff (to Olivier's Hal), Bluntschli in Arms and the Man (Olivier as Sergius), Cyrano in Cyrano de Bergerac (play), and Peer Gynt, in which Olivier took the cameo role of the Button Moulder.
In 1969 he played in the original production of Joe Orton's controversial farce What The Butler Saw in the West End at the Queen's Theatre in 1969 with Stanley Baxter, Coral Browne, and Hayward Morse.
In the 1970s he appeared in the West End (for example in William Douglas-Home's play Lloyd George Knew My Father with Peggy Ashcroft), and with the National Theatre under Peter Hall's direction, where among the classics he played Firs in The Cherry Orchard and the title role in John Gabriel Borkman.
Radio and Television
From 1954 – 1955 he played the character of Dr. John Watson (mistakenly called 'James' in several episodes) in an American/BBC radio co-production of canonical Sherlock Holmes stories, which starred Gielgud as the famous consulting detective.
Recordings
Richardson made several spoken word recordings for the Caedmon Audio label in the 1960's.
Film
His film appearances included The Heiress (his first nomination for an Academy Award), Richard III (playing Buckingham to Olivier's Richard), Our Man in Havana (with Alec Guinness and Noel Coward), O Lucky Man!, Oh!
Music
Richardson recorded the narration for Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, and the superscriptions for Vaughan Williams' Sinfonia Antartica - both with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Prokofiev conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent and the Vaughan Williams by André Previn.
Awards and honours
Richardson was knighted by King George VI in 1947.
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