Ralph Richardson

British actor, director (1902–1983) | 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

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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

- On the Night of the Fire (1939)
- Monday at 6am on Talking Pictures TV
- A barber kills the blackmailer of his wife.
- The 300 Spartans (1962)
- Tuesday at 4.50pm on Sony Movies Action
- Tuesday at 5.50pm on Sony Movies Action
- Sparta leads the ancient Greek states against Persia’s attack at Thermopylae.
- Home at Seven (1952)
- Thursday at 4.20pm on Talking Pictures TV
- A clerk suffers a 24-hour loss of memory and may have been involved in a murder.
- The Sound Barrier (1952)
- 4^th November at 10am on Talking Pictures TV
- An aircraft manufacturer takes risks with the lives of his family and friends to prove that the sound barrier can be broken.