Ralph Richardson

(1902–83)

British actor, director (d. 80) | Things to Come (1936), The Four Feathers (1939), The Divorce of Lady X (1938)

Distinguished British stage actor, in occasional films. Despite his splendid theatrical voice and thespian mannerisms he was at his best playing ordinary chaps, though his gallery included plenty of eccentrics

Mini Biography

Born in Cheltenham, Ralph Richardson was on stage from 1921, notably in productions at the Old Vic – in partnership with Laurence Olivier – at the Royal Court Theatre and the National Theatre, where first nights were marred by firing ‘Ralph’s Rocket’, in memory of his love of his fireworks. (He once destroyed Olivier’s dressing room with a misdirected rocket.)

In private life Richardson was as eccentric as some of the characters he played: stopped by police late at night when walking very slowly along the gutter of an Oxford street, he explained that he was taking his pet mouse for a stroll.

Latest Ralph Richardson Pictures

Main title from Jesus of Nazareth (1977) (21). Ralph Richardson as Simeon — Jesus of Nazareth (1977) opening credits (21)

Ralph Richardson (as Capt John Durrance) and June Duprez (as Ethne Burroughs) in a colour photograph from The Four Feathers (1939) (1) — The Four Feathers (1939) photograph (1) | Richardson, Duprez

Select Ralph Richardson Filmography

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Personal Details

Born

Died

Died

Ralph Richardson died in Marylebone, London on 10^th October, 1983, aged 80.
Born

Ralph Richardson was born in Tivoli Rd, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire on 19^th December, 1902.

Watch Ralph Richardson on British television

- The Man in the Iron Mask (1977)
- Thursday at 4.45pm on Film4 HD
- 26^th October at 3pm on Film4 HD
- King Louis XIV keeps his twin brother prisoner. 1977 TV movie remake.
- Doctor Zhivago (1965)
- 24^th October at 9.55am on TCM Movies HD
- 24^th October at 10.55am on TCM Movies Plus 1
- 27^th October at 12.50am on TCM Movies HD
- 27^th October at 1.50am on TCM Movies Plus 1
- 28^th October at 9.35am on TCM Movies HD
- 28^th October at 10.35am on TCM Movies Plus 1
- A Moscow doctor is caught up in World War I, exiled for writing poetry, forced into partisan service and separated from his only love.
- The Day Will Dawn (1942)
- 25^th October at 2.55pm on Film4 HD
- Norwegian freedom fighters destroy a U-boat base and are saved by commandos.
- The Four Feathers (1939)
- 25^th October at 9pm on Talking Pictures TV
- During the Sudan campaign of the 1890s, a stay-at-home receives four white feathers as a symbol of cowardice; but he goes undercover, becomes a hero and rescues his best friend.